Family critical time intervention with housing unstable, child welfare-involved families: Service providers’ and families’ experiences with the phases

Abstract

• This study describes how the stages of FCTI are enacted and experienced by families and program staff. • FCTI might be an effective way to serve housing unstable families with children in foster care. • Long-term supports are needed for housing unstable families with children in foster care. It is well documented that children from housing unstable families tend to stay longer in the foster care system and are less likely to reunify with their caregivers as compared to stably housed families. Various housing interventions have been implemented to promote reunification. Previous studies have primarily focused on examining the effectiveness of these housing interventions, however, no qualitative study has explored the mechanisms by which housing interventions are being delivered. This study aims to fill this critical literature gap by exploring how Family Critical Time Intervention (FCTI) is being carried out in the context of serving housing-unstable families with children in foster care. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 16 families, five PFS workers who delivered the intervention, and 15 child welfare workers involved in the families’ cases. Coding and analyses focused on themes describing clients’ and workers’ experiences during the FCTI phases. Themes developed for each phase included (1) Pre-FCTI: workers built trust through compassion; (2) Phase 1: workers helped stabilize clients through collaborative partnerships; Phase 2: workers helped clients with skill development and advocacy, and Phase 3: clients and workers wished for service continuity rather than termination. The findings have implications for promoting innovative practices for families who are at the intersection of housing instability and child welfare involvement.