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Box 3.11.2 (continued)A key component of the RIFR Project is the delivery of the Family Wellbeing (FWB)Program. The FWB program focuses on understanding conflict, emotions and effectiveresolution, changing family violence patterns, self-development and building healthyrelationships. Eleven community members have completed the first module and whilesome progressed to the second module, other participants chose to repeat the firstmodule in order to support other family and community members who are set to beginthe program. More participants completed modules 1 and 2 in December 2006 (SAGovernment unpublished).Pathways to Prevention, QueenslandThe Pathways to Prevention project began in 2001 in a particularly disadvantaged areain Brisbane, which included Indigenous, Pacific Islander and Vietnamese communitygroups. The program targeted families with children aged four to six years old whowere in transition to school, and focused on enhancing their communication and socialskills, and empowering their families, schools and ethnic communities to providesupportive environments for positive development.The multilayered interventions included a Family Independence Program (FIP). Themain outcome achieved by families attending FIP programs was the strengthening offamily relationships and improved communication between family members. Inaddition, the FIP improved relationships between families and schools and there was areduction in social isolation (Homel et al. 2006). Data on the characteristics ofparticipants shows that the FIP was used by some of the most vulnerable and difficultto-reachfamilies who were experiencing high levels of family adversity, dysfunction orstress (Homel et al. 2006).The involvement of a child’s parents in the FIP, in addition to the child’s directinvolvement in the Preschool Intervention Program (PIP), led to the most markedimprovements in behaviour. Moreover, children who were not involved in the PIP butwhose parents were involved in the FIP improved as much as children who participatedin the PIP directly. This suggests that indirect effects via parents can be as powerful asthe direct effects of programs specifically for children.Results of the cost analysis of the Pathways program (costs of development,implementation and evaluation phases of both the community based and school basedinterventions) indicated that preventative intervention was cheaper than later remedialinterventions for both behaviour management and literacy enhancement programs.There is strong evidence that the Pathways programs (FIP and PIP) both made adifference to outcomes for children, especially for boys’ behaviour. There wereimprovements in language skills, prosocial behaviour and school readiness.The Pathways to Prevention project won the 2004 National Crime and ViolencePrevention Award (sponsored by the heads of Australian governments and members ofthe Australasian Police Ministers’ Council.)105