Family Preservation Programs Research Articles

Juvenile Corrections in Indiana

This article argues that the growing trend toward tough penalties in corrections is not the solution to juvenile violence. Rather, policy addressing increased violence should take account of research, which suggests a focus on the home and community. Children are forced to become independent and competitive too soon. Instead, emphasis should be placed on the process, not the product. We need to support mentoring programs; community schools with facilities available after hours; family preservation programs; individual and family counseling services; substance abuse counseling and treatment; and continuing education programs. Also important is interagency cooperation rather than competition.

Decisions on placement and family preservation. Agreement and targeting.

Vignettes presented to experts and workers in the child welfare field were used to explore the degree of agreement on decisions to place children in substitute care or to refer them to family preservation services. The design allowed for investigation of the problem of targeting in family preservation programs. Findings indicate considerable inconsistency in decisions among experts and workers, particularly in decisions to refer to family preservation and other in-home services. Contrary to the stated intentions of family preservation services, a majority of the referrals to these programs do not involve children who would have been placed in the absence of these programs.

Reframing Child Safety in Michigan: Building Collaboration among Domestic Violence, Family Preservation, and Child Protection Services

In recognition of the substantial overlap between domestic violence and child maltreatment, Michigan's domestic violence, family preservation, and child protection programs are working together to enhance the safety of children and their battered mothers. This article discusses the development of Michigan's collaborative efforts, including the identification of obstacles that had prevented cooperation in the past. This article then describes three components of Michigan's collaboration. First, the development and implementation of statewide cross-training: on domestic violence for family preservation and child protection staff, and on family preservation and child abuse and neglect for domestic violence staff. Second, providing intensive family preservation services to battered women and their children by direct referral from domestic violence service programs. Third, the development of CPS policy to support these collaborative training and program initiatives. Finally, this article concludes with some observations about statewide implementation of collaborative work.

Privatization of Foster Care in Kansas: A Cautionary Tale

Privatization, or the contracting of government services to the private sector, has existed in child welfare in limited form for decades. Purchase of services contracting has been used to purchase a wide range of child welfare services from the private nonprofit sector, including parenting classes and group home care (Smith, 1989). But the wholesale statewide privatization of child welfare services, using a managed care approach, is a controversial new development. Managed care is revolutionizing health care and mental health systems (Jackson, 1995), but its application to child welfare has been limited to date. Potential advantages of managed care in child welfare include fiscal incentives that support permanency goals and discourage long-term foster care, while potential disadvantages include the lack of control over access, conditions, and interventions that are characteristic of other managed care systems (Feild, 1996). In November 1997 the state of Kansas sponsored an educational workshop on its first-of-a-kind efforts to privatize family preservation, foster care, and adoptions programs, which was attended by more than 200 people from 30 different states (Kansas Action for Children, Inc., 1998). The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) began the process of privatizing its foster care system in late 1996. Private contracts were awarded to three separate not-for-profit providers to cover five regions of the state. The capitated, or case, rates ranged from $12,860 to $15,504. For this fixed amount the contractor was expected to provide all traditional foster care services, including foster and group home care, reintegration services, and mental health treatment, to all nonjuvenile offenders in state custody. Contractors also were responsible for providing services 12 months after physical reintegration, with no additional state dollars provided if the child re-entered care during that time. The foster care contracts included standards for performance regarding outcomes, including children experiencing a minimum number of placements and children maintaining family, community, and cultural ties (Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, 1996). On March 4, 1997, the contractors assumed responsibility for newly opened cases. The study discussed in this article was undertaken at the request of a local juvenile court judge, in her desire to obtain quantitative, objective data about the well-being of Douglas County foster children during the first few months of the state's initiative. In particular, the judge was concerned that foster children under privatization could be spending less time in their first placement, spending more time outside of Douglas County, and experiencing more moves than children before privatization. The study was an unfunded class project supervised by the first author. The central study questions were, How are Douglas County foster children faring under privatization? and How does their situation compare with foster children before privatization? Study Sample Data were compared for two groups of children: (1) children newly placed in out-of-home placement during the first six months of privatization (between March 4, 1997, and August 31, 1997) and (2) children newly placed in out-of-home placement during the same time period before privatization (between March 4, 1996, and August 31, 1996). Thus, it should be emphasized that this report does not concern all of the children from Douglas County who were in foster care, only those who were newly placed during the first six months of the contract. The samples excluded children who came into state custody but did not experience an out-of-home placement and included children who had previously been in foster care and were re-entering the system. Outcome Indicators Choice of indicators was limited to data about outcomes that were available in court files. …

The Workers' View: Strategies and Coping Skills in a Family Preservation Program

This article examines the family preservation model from the perspective of workers involved in a program using the model. It describes a pilot study using qualitative research methods completed with all workers in a family preservation program. The study's focus explored the coping mechanisms of the workers specifically related to boundary and termination issues, and ways workers viewed families with whom they worked. Boundaries appeared to be managed by workers through cognitive mechanisms, application of program structure with clients, role clarification, supervision, and self-assessment. Role clarification particularly helped workers set limits for tasks that could be accomplished with families in a short-term model. Comfort and discomfort with termination issues included both personal and professional explanations. Coping mechanisms for managing termination issues were similar to those mentioned in regard to the maintenance of professional boundaries.

A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Evaluating Family Preservation Programs

A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Evaluating Family Preservation Programs

The Relationship Between Program Restrictiveness and Youth Behavior Problems

A key concept in the continuum-of-care model is matching the restrictiveness of treatment to the level of youth behavior problems. Restrictiveness refers to the degree that treatment and setting constrains choices and limits freedoms of patients. Only a few investigators have examined this relationship, and the findings have been equivocal. Extending our initial study of the relationship between youth behavior problems and program restrictiveness, we examined the relationship across seven programs spanning the continuum of care: parent training program, outpatient clinic, family preservation program, treatment foster care, residential group home, acute-care shelter, and inpatient psychiatric hospital. Results indicated a high level of correspondence between restrictiveness and youth behavior problems, with the least restrictive programs serving children with fewer behavior problems and highly restrictive programs serving children with more behavior problems.

The family at risk: issues and trends in family preservation services

The Family at Risk offers a comprehensive overview and assessment of the family preservation movement, a relatively new and highly controversial form of service delivery to families at of child removal. Mandated by federal legislation and hotly debated by politicians, practitioners, and public citizens, family preservation programs provide flexible, labor-intensive, home-based services that allow families to remain intact while addressing issues that threaten their safety and survival. Marianne Berry examines such programs, which have proliferated throughout the United States, and speculates on the future of this emotionally charged aspect of social work policy and practice. Berry measures the overall effectiveness of several family preservation models currently in use throughout the United States; defines many commonly misused terms, including imminent risk and reasonable efforts; and illustrates how principles of family preservation programs are often at odds with the philosophy and constraints of larger public child welfare and child protective services systems.

Utilization-Focused Evaluation of Two Intensive Family Preservation Programs

The author evaluates The Brightside Intensive Family Intervention (IFI) Program and the Massachusetts Department of Social Services' Family Life Center (FLC), which share a referral pool of 47 client families. The families were interviewed to assess the two programs from the consumers' perspective. Applying Patton's utilization-focused evaluation, qualitative information offered feedback to program staff and supervisors and quantitative data provided an administrative summary of the success of both programs. The structure and process of each program, as experienced by its clients, were linked with outcome. Families found these tertiary prevention programs worked well to support their dignity and expand their community connections. Agency auspices were unimportant to most parents, who preferred a team model and relatively longer contact. Most parents viewed concrete services as ancillary to relationship-based work.

An Innovative Family Preservation Program in an African American Community: Longitudinal Analysis

An Innovative Family Preservation Program in an African American Community: Longitudinal Analysis

The voices of parents: A qualitative study of a family preservation program

Most studies of family preservation services have used quantitative methods to examine program success. This paper reports on interviews with primary caretakers of children who have been abused and those with behavior problems between six months and three and one half years after family preservation services ended. Primary caretakers were asked three questions: What did you find to be the most helpful in your counseling? What did you find that did not help or that you disliked about counseling? After family preservation services, what happened with respect to the problems for which you were initially referred? Families found the support and nontraditional approaches to counseling helpful. Parents with children who had been abused particularly appreciated the teaching component of services. Brevity of the services and switching workers midstream caused the most concern for families. Finally, how families fared after intervention fell into a continuum from improved to deteriorated. The implications of these findings for clinical practice and program development are discussed.

Predictors of Out‐of‐Home Placement in a Family Preservation Program: Are Welfare Recipients Particularly Vulnerable?

Participants in a statewide family preservation program were classified on the basis of income level and enrollment in public assistance. These variables, along with other economic, parent, and child risk factors, were used to predict the probability of out‐of‐home placements at the close of this intervention program. Results revealed that neither low income nor receiving public assistance was predictive of having a child removed from the home. Higher levels of child‐centered risk and parent‐centered risk were the only consistent predictors of placement outcomes. Additional analyses revealed that family characteristics (e.g., history of psychiatric care, prior child placements, and involvement with the legal system) also were typical of families experiencing out‐of‐home placements. This study challenges the stereotype of low‐income or welfare families being at greater risk of having a child removed from their home. Findings are discussed in the context of recent welfare reform initiatives and implications for future family policy research.

A Multi- Faceted, Intensive Family Preservation Program Evaluation

A Multi- Faceted, Intensive Family Preservation Program Evaluation

Effects of the duration, intensity, and breadth of family preservation services: A new analysis of data from the illinois family first experiment

Effects of key components of family preservation services were examined using data from a rigorous evaluation of intensive family preservation services in Illinois. Simultaneous equations were developed using two-stage least squares estimates to model relationships between case characteristics, service characteristics, and case outcomes. Results indicate that the duration, intensity, and breadth of family preservation services have little overall impact on out-of-home placement of children, the recurrence of child maltreatment, or the closing of cases in the public child welfare agency. Policy makers, practitioners, and researchers are advised to look beyond these features of family preservation programs in search of effective interventions for children and families.

Evaluating Intensive Family Preservation Programs: A Methodological Review

To determine the adequacy of evaluations of family preservation services (FPS), which are designed to support families and prevent out-of-home placements of children at risk of abuse or neglect, and to assess the effectiveness of FPS at reducing out-of-home placements of children. References published from 1977 to 1993 were identified from a computerized search of databases for English-language publications using the key phrases "family preservation," "child abuse," and "family-based services." Unpublished references were identified by mail or phone from a listing of more than 200 programs in a national directory. Of 802 references initially identified, 46 program evaluations were reviewed. Ten studies met the following inclusion criteria: (1) evaluated an intensive family preservation program, (2) included outcome data in the report, and (3) used a comparison group. Five were randomized trials, and 5 were quasi-experimental studies (nonrandomized). Descriptive information about the programs and evaluations was collected. To determine methodological quality, two independent raters used a 15-item questionnaire to examine the assignment of families to treatment groups, the interventions provided, and the outcomes assessed. A composite score of 11 or greater represented an acceptable study, 6 to 10 represented an adequate study, and 5 or less represented an unacceptable study. Only two studies were rated acceptable, four were adequate, and four were unacceptable. Methodological shortcomings included poorly defined assessment of risk, inadequate descriptions of the interventions provided, and nonblinded determination of the outcomes. Rates of out-of-home placements were 21% to 59% among families who received FPS and 20% to 50% among comparison families. The relative risk of placement was significantly reduced by FPS in only two studies (one randomized trial and one quasi-experimental study). Despite current widespread use of FPS to prevent out-of-home placements of children, evaluations of FPS are methodologically difficult and show no benefit in reducing rates of out-of-home placements of children at risk of abuse or neglect in 8 of 10 studies. Consistent, methodologically rigorous evaluations are needed to determine the effectiveness of FPS and to guide social policy for high-risk children and their families.

The Family Preservation and Support Services Program

Two recent issues of The Future of Children have examined programs that support families with young children: the Winter 1993 issue on home visiting and the Winter 1995 issue on the long-term outcomes of early childhood programs. In both issues, the legislation creating the Family Preservation and Support Services Program was discussed as a possible funding source for such programs. This Revisiting article summarizes the key elements of that federal program and discusses some of the challenges states have faced as they have tried to implement the new law. Thus far, the legislation has had only a modest impact on the availability of services, but it has triggered a comprehensive and broad-based planning process that is likely to have lasting benefits.

Complicating the Theory

Anna Freud's recognition of the complex interactions between endowment and maturation, innate structuralization and environmental influences, have had a profound influence on the development of policies and programs in the United States that attempt to improve the adverse conditions, strengthen the tenuous maternal ties, and reduce the potential for behavioral problems and intrapsychic distress in certain high-risk families. This paper describes and provides a case illustration of the application of Ms. Freud's psychoanalytic theories to the Yale Family Preservation and Support Programs. It reviews and comments on national policies regarding the risks and benefits of family preservation and child placement, identifies a paradigmatic shift in the provision of mental health care, and cautions against overconfidence in our ability to intervene effectively.

Parental substance abuse and child maltreatment: Review and implications for intervention

This paper reviews the link between the incidence of child abuse and neglect and parental substance abuse. Parenting and women-specific components are needed in existing drug abuse treatment programs. In addition, parenting and pregnant women who are substance abusers can benefit from comprehensive, family-centered treatment services where recovery is addressed in the context of total family needs. The paper reviews selected family preservation programs and family-oriented drug abuse treatment programs and presents preliminary findings from the authors' ongoing outcome evaluation of New York City's Family Rehabilitation Program.

Buy Australian: A local family preservation success

The ‘new’ American solution for abused and neglected children — Intensive Family Preservation Programs — are being heavily marketed to Australians. Victoria and New South Wales have enthusiastically embraced the idea with pilot programs based on American statistics proving its value in maintaining children with their families and improving their safety. No matter that the Americans themselves warned that evaluations showed that out of home placements rate was no higher for families that did not receive the program and that the programs came from a country whose own Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect described the child protection system as a ‘national emergency’.

Implementing the family preservation program: Feedback from focus groups with consumers and providers of services

There is a growing understanding that preventative child welfare efforts can be both more cost effective and are more desirable philosophically than strictly remedial programs. The Family Preservation Act provides funds to assist communities in strengthening and preserving at-risk families. In order to implement this program effectively, local communities must design new programs and procedures which will be both attractive to consumers and effective in meeting their needs. This study it identifies problems with contemporary child and family services and suggests solutions to those problems. This study uses a focus group format and presents ideas generated by those individuals who will be most directly affected by this legislation; front line service providers and service consumers. Several areas of weakness in the current service delivery system are identified, including bureaucratic barriers, limited resources, problematic consumer/provider relations and a range of collaborative issues, both within and between agencies and the communities they serve.