PDFY grew out of a desire to teach parents the skills they need to prevent drug abuse in their families. This was particularly important during the mid-1980's as rates of youth drug use and abuse increased throughout the Nation. The goal was to develop a program that could be used by a large number of parents to reduce family risk factors, enhance family protective factors, and employ parenting skills that would reduce children's health risks. The PDFY curriculum was developed with these goals, field tested in Seattle, WA, schools, and then developed into a video-assisted-program for wider distribution in 1987.

The curriculum was field tested for 2 years in 10 Seattle public schools. In these schools, 52 percent of the students were people of color, 48 percent were from low-income families (based on eligibility for a Federal free lunch program), and 39 percent were from single-parent families. In addition to the public school field tests, the curriculum has been tested as part of a regional broadcast media program, in different statewide implementations, within a health maintenance organization, and in a project focusing on families of color. Since its introduction in 1987, PDFY has been implemented in more than 30 States and in Canada. The program has trained more than 120,000 families (see table 1 below).