Evaluating a national initiative to end the cycle of violence for mothers and their children
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Overview
Interpersonal violence is a major public health issue, often rooted in early childhood experiences. When survivors enter motherhood with unresolved trauma, those wounds can resurface in parenting and adult relationships. The prenatal and early parenting years offer a critical opportunity for healing and change. The Connections group intervention supports mothers affected by violence by fostering personal healing and strengthening parenting capacities to prevent the intergenerational transmission of interpersonal violence. Building on earlier positive evaluations, the current initiative aims to expand a national network of trained facilitators, promote wider implementation, and deepen the evidence base. This presentation shares early findings from a multi-method, longitudinal evaluation of the initiative, including facilitator training, intervention delivery, and the supporting community of practice. Key insights, challenges, and implications for future community-based implementation will be explored.Speakers
Gloria Jooyoung Lee
Gloria (Jooyoung) Lee is a research coordinator at the Breaking The Cycle, Canadian Mothercraft Society. She holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto. Her research interest is in comparing the effectiveness of an evidence-based intervention for various visible minority communities and analyzing cultural differences in public health perspectives. She is also interested in incorporating cultural sensitivity into the existing intervention for at-risk visible minority mothers and young children.
Dr. Mary Motz
Dr. Mary Motz is a Clinical Psychologist at Mothercraft’s Breaking the Cycle program in Toronto and an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at York University. Since obtaining her degree in clinical-developmental psychology at York University in 2003, she has been working with pregnant people, mothers, as well as their infants andyoung children who are at risk for maladaptive outcomes because of challenges related to substance use and mental health difficulties, interpersonal violence and trauma, marginalization by society and systemic violence, and poverty. In collaboration with internal and community research partners, Dr. Motz has led the program evaluation and research at BTC, including Connections for Breaking the Cycle (C-BTC), and has supervised numerous research and clinical practicum students. Dr. Motz has authored numerous academic publications and technical reports, as well as provided training nationally and internationally related to promoting healthy infant and child development, supporting children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and providing trauma-informed interventions for families with infants and young children who have complex needs.
Dr. Naomi Andrews
Dr. Naomi Andrews is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. She conducts research using a relational perspective to understand children and youth’s social adjustment and problem behaviors, as well as community-based intervention and evaluation research on healthy relationships, in partnership with Mothercraft’s Breaking the Cycle program – a prevention and early intervention program for mothers with substance use issues and their young children.
