Impact evaluation of the P.I.P.P.I. programme: a first application of counterfactual analysis

The research focuses on the Italian Programme of Intervention for Prevention of Institutionalization (P.I.P.P.I.), the implementation of an integrated inter-professional, institutional and service method of intervention, at national level, with families at risk of child neglect. To prove the effectiveness of the programme with the (quasi) experimental evidence of Impact Evaluation, a set of non-participant families under the care of standard services are compared to participants of the 4th edition of the programme. Since a non-random selection process intervenes in the professionals’ choice of the families to be included in the intervention, specific statistical techniques have been applied to minimize the selection bias resulting by comparing participants with non-participants. Even if environmental conditions are difficult to change, statistically significant effects on children’s total risk of out-of-home placement and developmental needs satisfaction are estimated. Also, the effects on parents’ response to child’s needs are positive and, in general, professionals’ support to parents becomes less important after they have participated in P.I.P.P.I.