Intensive Family Preservation Research Articles

The Match Between Family Needs and Services for High-Risk Neglecting Families

ABSTRACT Child neglect is characterized by a complexity of family problems and needs. Whether families' needs are actually matched to the appropriate services is a critical area for study, although little empirical work exists. In this study, we examine the match between needs and services for a sample of high-risk neglecting families, using cluster analysis to identify clusters of services and previously identified need clusters. We examine need–service match from two perspectives: 1) how well services are allocated to family need, and 2) how well family needs are covered by available services. Some service clusters are well allocated to corresponding needs, such as intensive drug court and family preservation services to substance-abusing families; however, other service patterns are much less coherent. With regard to how well needs are covered by available services, although approximately one-third of substance-abusing families receive the intensive drug court intervention, another one-third receive the low-service cluster of services. Poor match is particularly evident for the mental health/economic need/domestic violence group, in which more than half are represented in the low-service cluster, and only one-fourth in the high-service/economic/domestic violence service cluster. Attention to need–service matching is an important feature of evidence-based practice from both the perspective of case planning with families and the design of services for subgroups of families. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

Teaching Family Preservation

ABSTRACT The family preservation movement, with its historic emphasis on keeping children with their families, is prominent in social work in the U.S.A. in large part this is due to the profession's enduring commitment to society's most deprived families. In keeping with the importance of this movement, appropriate content should be incorporated throughout the social work curriculum. Accordingly, this article describes three courses that can be integrated into the Child/Youth/Family area of the curriculum: a generic course on intensive family preservation, a specialized course on family reunification of children in out-of-home care, and a specialized course on preparation of foster adolescents for interdependent living.

Intensive Family Preservation in Children's Mental Health: Predictors of Placement

Intensive Family Preservation in Children's Mental Health: Predictors of Placement

The Families First Pilot Program in Victoria: Cuckoo or contribution?

The Families First Pilot Program in the then Outer East metropolitan region of Melbourne began in mid-1991 as an intensive family preservation and reunification service for children on the verge of state care. The service offered was brief (4-6 week), intensive (up to 20 hours per week), home-based and flexible (24 hour a day, 7 day a week availability) and all members of the household or family were the focus of service even though the goals were clearly grounded in the protection of the child. This paper begins with some of the apprehension expressed both in the field and in Children Australia in 1993, and reports upon the now completed evaluation of the pilot, which covered the first 18 months of operation. The evaluation examined implementation and program development issues and considered the client population of the service against comparative data about those children at risk who were not included. The paper concludes that there is room for Families First in the Victorian system of protective and family services and points to several developmental issues.

Review of Reaching High-Risk Families: Intensive Family Preservation in Human Services.

Review of Reaching High-Risk Families: Intensive Family Preservation in Human Services.

Book Reviews

Abstract School Law for Counselors, Psychologists, and Social Workers (Second Edition), by Louise Fischer&Gail P. Sorenson. New York: Longman, 1991, 340 pages, paperback, price unknown Mediating Divorce: Casebook of Strategies for Successful Family Negotiations, by John M. Haynes&Gretchen L. Haynes. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1989, 331 pages, $28.95 The Divorce and Divorce Therapy Handbook, edited by Martin Textor. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1989, 380 pages, $40.00. Applied Nonparametric Statistical Methods, by Peter Sprent. London: Chapman and Hall, 1989, 259 pages, paperback (price unknown) The Diary of a Baby, by Daniel N. Stern. New York: Basic Books, 1990, 165 pages, $18.95. A Secret World: Sexuality and the Search for Celibacy, by A. W. Richard Sipe. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1990, 324 pages, $29.95. Reaching High-Risk Families: Intensive Family Preservation in Human Services, by James K. Whittaker, Elizabeth M. Tracy,&C. Booth. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1990, 206 pages, $29.95 hardcover, $14.95 paperback. A Systemic Harpoon into Family Games: Preventive Interventions in Therapy, by Giuliana Prata, New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1990, 178 pages, $25.00. Multi-Systemic Structural-Strategic Interventions for Child and Adolescent Behavior Problems, edited by Patrick H. Tolan, New York: Haworth Press, 1990, 161 pages, $24.95 Disorders of Desire: Sex and Gender in Modern American Sexology, by Janice M. Irvine. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990, 345 pages, $34.95. When One Wants Out and the Other Doesn't: Doing Therapy with Polarized Couples, by John F. Crosby. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1989, 260 pages, $30.00.

Book Review: Reaching High-Risk Families: Intensive Family Preservation in Human Services

Book Review: Reaching High-Risk Families: Intensive Family Preservation in Human Services

Reaching high-risk families: intensive family preservation in human services

Focusing on a program (Homebuilders) that has attracted national attention, this book develops implications for family-centered curricula in such areas as social policy, direct practice, program design/management, practice research, theory and prevention.

Selecting an Agency Auspice for Family Preservation Services

Issues associated with providing intensive home-based family preservation services through public and private child welfare agency auspices are discussed. Program implementation, funding, service effectiveness, program efficiency, organizational politics, and other factors are examined to assess the strengths and limitations of each auspice.

Avoiding Out-of-Home Placement of High-Risk Status Offenders through the Use of Intensive Home-Based Family Preservation Services

This article describes the values and program components of an intensive home-based family preservation service program called Homebuilders, which was designed to treat status-offending youths in danger of imminent out-of-home placement and their families. Data indicated that 87% of 687 youth referred to Homebuilders avoided placement for 12 months after service intake. These results are discussed with respect to program replication, other client populations, and future research directions.