Family Preservation Services: Problems of Measurement and Assessment of Risk

Abstract

A statewide family preservation program was evaluated using a preand postservice assessment of the risk of out-of-home placement for 995 families. Results indicate modest, but statistically significant, increases in family functioning during family preservation services, as measured by scales assessing parent-centered, child-centered, and economic risk. However, the instrument assessing risk did not predict out-of-home placement as there was no difference between low-risk and high-risk groups in the critical outcome measure. Implications of these results for family intervention programs are discussed.