Family Preservation Journal, 1999, Volume 4, Issue 2. (Entire issue)

Entire issue (large pdf file) Articles include: Behavior Problems of Maltreated Children Receiving In-Home Child Welfare Services. Ferol Mennen, William Meezan, Gino Aisenberg, and Jacquelyn McCroskey Measuring Consumer Satisfaction in Family Preservation Services: Identifying Instrument Domains. Stephen A. Kapp and Rebecca H Vela Intensive In-Home Family-Based Services: Reactions from Consumers and Providers Elaine Walton, and Alfred C. Dodini Coordination of Family Preservation Services in a Rural Community: A Case Study. Richard Freer and Kathleen Wells The Effectiveness of Court Mandated Intervention Versus Voluntary Services in Child Protective Services: Abbreviated Version. Loring Jones, Irene Becker, and Krista F alk

Getting to Know You: Psychoeducational Groups to Counter Social Isolation of Neglectful Mothers

This research indicates a uniformly positive use of psychoeducational groups to counter social isolation of neglectful mothers. This research was supported by a National Child Welfare Fellowship from the U.S. Children 's Bureau to the author. The author thanks Nancy Dickinson, Sherrill Clark, and the staff of the California Social Work Education Center at the University of California for their oversight and guidance during (his fellowship. The author is also grateful to her fellow fellows for their input and guidance during this research effort. Special thanks to Rose Ben ham, Anna Bowen, Judith Brewington, Caron Byington, Scottye Cash. Dottie Dixon, and Verna Rickard for their support of this project.

What is Family Preservation and Why Does it Matter?

This paper describes competing ideas about family preservation, defined both as a defined program of social services and a philosophical approach to helping troubled families. A straightforward definition has become almost impossible because the phrase has taken on so many different meanings, provoking controversy about its "real" meaning and value. Indeed, "family preservation" has become the proverbial elephant whose splendors and horrors are described with great certainty by those impressed by only one of its aspects. While skirmishes between "child savers" and "family preservers" have been part of the child welfare field since its beginning at the turn of the last century, recent debates over family preservation have been especially heated, generating more confusion and animosity than might be expected from the ranks of the small and usually mild-mannered social work profession. The debate is so heated that the director of one of the nation's largest child welfare agencies said recently that he is afraid to "even use the two words on the same page." <1> While the debate about the value of family preservation is unresolved, experimentation with different approaches to service delivery over the last two decades has helped to lay the groundwork for a resurgence of interest in family and community-centered reforms. Better understanding of the family preservation "debates" may be helpful if these reforms are to be successful over the long term. The paper discusses the competing ideas, values, and perceptions that have led observers to their different understandings of family preservation. It briefly chronicles the history of child welfare and examines key theories that have helped lay the groundwork for the resurgence of interest in family-centered services. It concludes with observations about how the competing values at stake in family preservation may affect the next generation of reforms.

Family Preservation Research: Where We've Been, Where We Should Be Going

Although the literature has provided many critiques of research done on family preservation programs, these critiques have usually been limited to the studies ' assumptions, approach, or methodology. Because of the nature of these critiques, suggestions for future research in this field of practice have been scattered throughout the literature and have not benefitted from a wider historical perspective. This paper examines the historical evolution of family preservation studies in child welfare and suggests future directions for research in the field. Among the suggestions the authors posit are (1) research questions should be framed by what we know about improvements in the lives of families and children served by family preservation programs; (2) future explorations should include areas that have received relatively little attention in current research, including the impact of organizational conditions on service fidelity and worker performance; (3) newer treatment models, particularly those that provide both intensive services during a crisis period and less intensive services for maintenance, should be tested; (4) data collection points in longitudinal studies should be guided by theory, and measures should change over time to reflect the theoretically expected changes in families; (5) complex measures of placement prevention and other measures that capture changes in family functioning, child well-being, and child safety, should be utilized to obtain a full picture of program effects; and (6) multiple informants should be used to provide data about program effectiveness. In addition, the authors will argue that the field should carefully consider the amount of change that should be expected from the service models delivered.

Family Preservation Services to At-Risk Families: A Macro Case Study

Although the literature has provided many critiques of research done on family preservation programs, these critiques have usually been limited to the studies ' assumptions, approach, or methodology. Because of the nature of these critiques, suggestions for future research in this field of practice have been scattered throughout the literature and have not benefited from a wider historical perspective. This paper examines the historical evolution of family preservation studies in child welfare and suggests future directions for research in the field. Among the suggestions the authors posit are (1) research questions should be framed by what we know about improvements in the lives of families and children served by family preservation programs; (2) future explorations should include areas that have received relatively little attention in current research, including the impact of organizational conditions on service fidelity and worker performance; (3) newer treatment models, particularly those that provide both intensive services during a crisis period and less intensive services for maintenance, should be tested; (4) data collection points in longitudinal studies should be guided by theory, and measures should change over time to reflect the theoretically expected changes in families; (5) complex measures of placement prevention and other measures that capture changes in family functioning, child well-being, and child safety, should be utilized to obtain a full picture of program effects; and (6) multiple informants should be used to provide data about program effectiveness. In addition, the authors will argue that the field should carefully consider the amount of change that should be expected from the service models delivered.

Effectiveness of Community Case Management in Family Risk Reduction

This study evaluated a modified home-based model of family preservation services, the long-term community case management model, as operationalized by a private child welfare agency that serves as the last resort for hard-to-serve families with children at severe risk of out-of-home placement. The evaluation used a One-Group Pretest-Posttest design with a modified time-series design to determine if the intervention would produce a change over time in the composite score of each family's Child Well-Being Scales (CWBS). A comparison of the mean CWBS scores of the 208 families and subsets of these families at the pretest and various posttests showed a statistically significant decrease in the CWBS scores, indicating decreased risk factors. The longer the duration of services, the greater the statistically significant risk reduction. The results support the conclusion that the families who participate in empowerment-oriented community case management, with the option to extend service duration to resolve or ameliorate chronic family problems, have experienced effective strengthening in family functioning.

Editoriall: A Holistic View of Family Preservation Services

One of the hallmarks of family preservation services is that they are holistic and attend to multiple dimensions of family life. In that spirit, this issue of the Family Preservation Journal provides a holistic view of these services, by offering research from the perspective of children, parents, caseworkers, and students of social work. These articles focus on the effectiveness of services, parents' perceptions of services, and the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of child welfare caseworkers. There should be something here for everyone who serves children and their families.

Assessing Treatment Integrity: A Case Example

This paper presents an example of assessing treatment integrity as part of an experimental study of home-based, intensive family preservation services (IFPS). Participants were 103 IFPS workers and 24 state public child welfare agency workers (FC). The structured, self-report questionnaire included questions about specific components of the services, as well as the characteristics of the family and the workers themselves. Findings suggest that IFPS workers delivered services according to the treatment model guidelines. The procedure yielded a good estimate of whether the structural components of treatment were delivered according to the model as delineated in the treatment manual. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to assessing treatment integrity.

Post-Permanency: An Assessment for Families’ Needs for Services and Supports

This article reports the results of a qualitative study that sought the perspectives of birth parents and adoptive parents following reunification or adoption of children from foster care. Using a participatory action design that actively involved young adults formerly in foster care and parents in the design and implementation of the study, the study focused on the consumers’ perspectives on several issues related to permanency. The article reports findings from interviews with a subset of 27 birth and adoptive families in New York City who were asked about their post-permanency experiences and from interviews with 38 child welfare professionals who were asked to respond to the parents’ perspectives. The article offers directions for child welfare practice and program development.

Promoting Family Continuity - Perspectives from Italy

In this essay I review a recent research study from Italy, “Le Radici nel Futuro – La Continuita’ della Relazione Genitoriale oltre la Crisi Familiare,” edited by Paola Dallanegra (2005). The contributors focus on “Spazio Neutro,” a multi-purpose child welfare agency in southern Italy that facilitates parent-child visiting and relationships between children placed in out-of-home care and their families. They delineate and illustrate, through comments from family members, selected principles and strategies for maintaining such continuity throughout the out-of-home placement.

The Children’s Bureau’s Role in Promoting Parent Engagement and Family Support: A Brief History and Current Efforts

Over the years, federal child welfare policy has supported parent engagement and family support strategies through various Children’s Bureau funded state formula grant programs, research and demonstration discretionary grants, and technical assistance. This article highlights programs funded by two federal laws, Promoting Safe and Stable Families and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and Children’s Bureau’s efforts to test innovations and disseminate knowledge about promising and evidence-based practices regarding parent engagement and family support. The article begins with a brief legislative history and then describes several grant programs that are supported by the legislation. The article concludes with lessons learned and a discussion of the new opportunities for system changes through the Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration projects.

Guardians of Generations: African American Grandparent Caregivers for Children of HIV/AIDS Infected Parents

Grandparents, particularly, grandmothers in the African American community have historically provided needed care for their grandchildren (Crewe, 2003). Before there was a child welfare system that addressed the needs of African American children, there were grandmothers who served as the safety net for their biological, informally adopted grandchildren, and other minor relatives. They cared for grandchildren and others whose birth parents were unable or unwilling to care for them. For families of color, HIV/AIDS is an emerging issue that is contributing to the growing numbers of grandparent-headed households. And once again, many African American grandmothers have accepted the challenge of holding their families together. This article addresses the HIV/AIDS public health challenge in the African American community with specific focus on its impact on older grandparents responsible for raising children of infected biological parents. It advocates for a model that continues to strengthen the Children’s Bureau investment in kinship care through integrating the needs of children and their aging caregivers.

The Impact of Title IV-E Training on Case Outcomes for Children Serviced by CPS

This study was designed to determine if the professional social work education provided by Title IV-E stipends leads to better case outcomes for children serviced by a southern state in the U.S. Desired case outcomes included lower levels of recurrence of child maltreatment, lower levels of foster care re-entries, greater stability of foster care placements, more reunifications with families within 12 months of placement in foster care, and more adoptions within 24 months of being placed in foster care. Data were obtained from the state’s case outcome records. The findings from the study indicate that Title IV-E stipend workers had significantly better outcomes than Non-Title IV-E workers in two areas: reunifications within twelve months and finalized adoptions within twenty-four months. In addition, non-Title IV-E workers with social work degrees were significantly more likely to achieve positive outcomes regarding recurrence of maltreatment, stability of foster care placement, and length of time to achieve adoption. The study recommends that state child protective service (CPS) agencies continue to offer Title IV-E child welfare training programs and hire degreed social workers. CPS should also continue to support the Title IV-E program and encourage employees to participate in the program. In addition, it is recommended that jobs be restructured to maximize activities that positively impact case outcomes and that the salaries of CPSworkers be increased. Additional research should also be conducted to contribute to a better understanding of other factors that positively impact case outcomes.

Editorial: Roles and Expertise

We all take on roles, probably several each day. Parent, worker, consumer, spouse, or shortstop, the roles we play are varied and complex. After one's own family, perhaps the roles of consumer and worker are most important to Family Preservation. How do we come to play these roles, and in what ways are they changing, or should they change? Often, neither the worker or family set out to play their roles, but through the twist and turns of life, the opportunity to serve and preserve a family presents itself. At a recent conference, a group of workers spoke of how, rather than having a career goal to do Family Preservation, Family Preservation found them. Many of the families probably say the same thing! In the fields of mental health, developmental disabilities, and adoption, families may seek Family Preservation services; rarely do families involved in juvenile justice, corrections, or child welfare systems look for Family Preservation. Family Preservation finds them. And thus the roles begin.

The Elegant Simplicity of Family Preservation Practice Legecies and Lessons

An earlier version of this manuscript was prepared for the Chapin Hall invitational seminar on family preservation, The Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, September 16 & 17, 1999. The author wishes to acknowledge the comments and helpful suggestions of seminar participants-Jacqueline McCroskey, Martha Shirk, Fran Jacobs, John Schuerman, Lee Schorr, Charlotte Booth, Kristi Nelson, Susan Kelly, Frank Farrow, and Susan Notkin. These comments, as indeed many of their prior contributions, have had a seminal effect on my thinking about family preservation services over the years. Clark Peters and other Chapin Hall staff deserve special thanks for creating the conditions necessary to produce a lively and productive discussion. As always, Harold Richman, Executive Director of Chapin Hall, and Hermon Dunlap, Smith Professor at the School of Social Service Administration of the University of Chicago, as seminar convenor combined perfectly the skills of gracious host and incisive critic. We in the child welfare field are in his debt for continually raising the level of discourse in our field. In the end, as it should be, the thoughts and opinions in the following paper are wholly my own.