Multi-Modal Fluppy Program

Brief Description

The Multi-Modal Fluppy Program (Fluppy Program) is a school-based prevention program. It promotes the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural components of social competence and includes universal and selective interventions. The universal component takes place in the classroom and is aimed at improving social, problem solving, and self-control skills. The selective component is aimed at students with disruptive behaviour and involves applying an intervention plan with the teacher, home visiting, academic intervention, and support for friendship development.

Goals

The main goals of the Fluppy Program are to:

• Act on known protective factors to prevent violent and disruptive behaviours;
• Help students develop good social skills in order to develop and maintain positive group relationships; and
• Support parents of at-risk children in order to promote harmonious parent-child relationships.

Clientele

The appropriate clientele for the Fluppy Program is children in preschool and grade 1, children in grades 2 and 3, and children in grades 4 to 6. The program combines universal prevention interventions (for all students in the classroom) and interventions targeting children who are assessed as being at risk through risk assessment tools. The selective component is aimed at students with disruptive and violent  behaviours. The program is tailored to the appropriate age group.

Core Components

The Fluppy Program consists of the following components:

• Preschool and grade 1: Comprises three interventions: (1) the child intervention, which focuses on teaching social skills in the classroom and presents 15 workshops of 20-30 minutes each; (2) the family intervention, which focuses on helping parents of children with behavioural issues (e.g., aggression) through one meeting held every two weeks; and (3) the teacher intervention that focuses on providing teachers with support through a resource person for managing their classes and applying intervention strategies. For students in grade 1, there are booster sessions that include small group sessions held at school for the targeted children and home visit sessions with their parents;
• Grades 2 and 3: This program is a continuation of the two social behaviour training programs. The program presents eight workshops based on the topics of friends, emotions, empathy and problem solving. The activities are administered to the entire class; and
• Grades 4, 5 and 6: Universal workshops that focus on social skills training take place in the classroom. Ten workshops are presented to the entire group of students.

Implementation Information

Some of the critical elements for the implementation of this program or initiative include the following:

• Organizational requirements: The lead organization should have a strong and stable management team and solid skills in outreach, intake and assessment, and program delivery.
• Partnerships: Organizations should collaborate with the designated school and school board, a health and social services centre, and/or a health and social services development organization.
• Training and technical assistance: Professionals and teachers who wish to implement the program must participate in training and undergo supervision when administering the program.
• Risk assessment tools: Limited information on this topic.
• Materials & resources: Program materials for classroom intervention components.

International Endorsements

The most recognized classification systems of evidence-based crime prevention programs have classified this program or initiative as follows:

• Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development: Not applicable.
• Crime Solutions/OJJDP Model Program Guide: Not applicable.
• SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices: Not applicable.
• Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy: Not applicable.

Gathering Canadian Knowledge

Canadian Implementation Sites

The Fluppy Program has been implemented in schools across Quebec since its creation in 1990. The program was developed by the Centre de psycho-éducation du Québec which continues to oversee implementation in all program sites.

Main Findings from Canadian Outcome Evaluation Studies

An outcome evaluation study of the Fluppy Program was conducted by Poulin and colleagues (2014; period is unknown). This study evaluated the effectiveness of two versions of the Fluppy Program (five-component and three-component) and employed a quasi-experimental design with a comparison group.

Results from this evaluation showed the following:

• After one year of intervention, the children in the five-component group performed better in the academic skills area than the children in the one-component comparison group. With regard to disruptive behaviours, the girls in both the three-component and five-component groups presented fewer behaviour problems at posttest than the girls in the comparison group; and
• After two years of intervention, the girls in the five-component intervention performed better in the academic skills areas than the girls in the comparison group. Among the children who were exposed to two years of intervention, those in the three- and five-component groups presented fewer disruptive behaviours at the end of grade 1 than those in the comparison group.

For more information, refer to Poulin et al.’s (2014) publication.

Cost Information

No information available.

References

Poulin, F., et al.  (2014). Large-scale dissemination of an evidence-based prevention program for at-risk kindergartners: Lessons learned from an effectiveness trial of the Fluppy Program. In M. Boivin & K. L. Bierman (Eds), Promoting school readiness and early learning: Implications of developmental research for practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

For more information on this program, contact:

Centre de psychoéducation du Québec
University of Montreal
3050 Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard, Suite A-201
Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J7
Telephone: (514) 343-6981
E-mail: gripcpeq@GRIP.UMontreal.ca
Website: http://www.cpeq.net/