ERIC ED369490: Family Reunification Project.

17 Pages·1991·0.31 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
PS 021 954
ED 369 490
Family Reunification Project.
TITLE
Administration for Children, Youth, and Families
INSTITUTION
(DHHS), Washington, D.C.
PUB DATE
(91]
17p.; For related documents, see PS 021 952-953.
NOTE
Descriptive (141)
Reports
PUB TYPE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
*Biological Parents; Community Services; *Family
DESCRIPTORS
Counseling; *Foster Children; *Mental Health Workers;
Program Descriptions; Program Development; Program
Effectiveness; *Social Services
*Family Reunification; Utah
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Utah's Department of Human Services' Family
Reunification Project was initiated to demonstrate that intensive,
time-limited, home-based aervices would enable children in foster
care to return to their natural families more rapidly than regular
foster care management permits. The following steps were taken in
project development: (1) sites were selected; (2) the research design
and data collection instruments were developed to assess program
(4) allied
effectiveness; (3) reunification workers were hired;
agencies and staff were informed about the pioject; (5) a steering
committee developed the service model; and (6) reunification workers
were trained. The project involved 57 children who received intensive-
reunification services and 47 control group cases. Of the
experimental group, 52 were returned home within a 90-day period,
compared to 12 of the control group. The service model included the
following provisions: the reunification worker's caseload was limited
to six families; services were limited to 90 days and were
goal-oriented; workers spent an average of 35 hours in face-to-face
contact with the families; the reunification worker was the primary
therapist and liaison with community resources, as well as the
caseworker; and services were family- rather than child-oriented.
Success rates for family preservation will be determined in a 6-month
follow-up. (AC)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
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U.S DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION
Office ot Educational Rematch and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
Family Reunification Project
S.1:his document has been reproduced as
*coved from the person or organization
originating it
0 Minor changes hens been made to improve
reproduction duahty
Abstract
Pants of weir°. opinrons stated n this doc u-
men! CIO not neCessarily represent official
OEM positton Of DOI,Cy
Family Reunification Project, a project funded by the Administration on Children, Youth and
Families of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, addressed the reunification
of families after out-of-home placement. The final report presents an overview of the project
and describes the intensive, time-limited, family-based strategy that the project employed.
Project outcomes included a significantly higher number of reunifications of children in the
study group than in the control group, which received standard foster care case management.
t
For further information, please contact Jake Terpstra at [phone], Children's Bureau
ri
CE2 of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families.
SECTION I
FINAL SUMMARY OF THE FAMILY 'REUNIFICATION PROJECT
3
Need for Assistance:
increasingly
State of Utah's
Human
Services
Department
has
of
The
become aware of the powerful impact intensive family based services have had
At the same time, it became apparent
on preventing out-of-home placements.
that children were staying in foster care much longer than necessary (14
is due to foster care workers carrying a caseload of 20-30
months).
This
Because of such a high caseload, foster care workers are unable
children.
that are necessary to
or resources,
type of counseling,
provide
the
to
enable a child to return to their family within a reasonable period of time
(six to nine months).
With the increase of reported child abuse victims (47% increase from
the
increase number
of
concurrent
been
in
1987
has
1989),
to
there
a
through family preservation
Although,
going
into
foster
children
care.
efforts, we believe the majority of children referred to Social Services are
However, those children who are placed
able to remain
in their own homes.
foster care are coming from very dysfunctional
multiproblem
families
in
where the children must be removed because of the imminent risk of abuse or
neglect.
Current foster care practice is rarely family based because of the high'
foster
with
e.g.,
multiple
must dealt
systems
that
caseloads be
and
family, extended family and the numerou's
child/ren, foster family, natural
the foster child's
important role
play
that
an
governmental
systems
in
Quite simply, there is not enough time for a foster care worker to
life.
become involved in the treatment and education that a family needs in order
to reunite foster children w'th their families.
Because foster care workers are unable to
direct
provide
services,
foster children and their families are referred to local community resources
to obtain the counseling and education that is required to return the child
As these community resources are not as
back to its natural
environment.
familiar with the complex multiproblem families that Social Services deals
duration and may not focus on the specific
longer
treatment
with,
in
is
child protection issues that are required to be resolved in order to return
the child home.
providing
intensive,
by
assumption
that
Department's
was
the
It
time-limited, home-based services children would be able to return to their
natural families in a much more timely manner than they are currently able
to with the provision of regular foster care case management.-
Oblutives of the Project:
The main objective of this project was to demonstrate
Objective 1:
that intensive home-based services are as effective in the reunification of
in preventing unnecessary out-of-home
children to their natural parents as
placements.
intensive
used
who
workers
an
that
demonstrated
been
has
It
time-limited, family based approach to reunifying children to their natural
families were significantly more effective than foster care workers who had
rather than treatment
a caseload of 20 to 30 cases and were case managers
providers.
4
Aildren
intensive reunification
services
and
received
Sixty
six
All of these
another 66 children were identified as control group cases.
of
children were identified through a random sampling procedure.
Several
these children and their families had to be dropped from the study due to
the natural parents not being able to be located.
Of the 57 children that received intensive home-based services for the
the research componet of this project),
purpose of reunification
52
(and
Of the 47 children that
were returned home within a 90 day time period.
followed
care
were
regular
foster
this
received
case
study
in
that
managemement, 12 were returned home within the 90 day time frame.
intensive
time-limited,
based,
Objective family
using
By
II:
a
approach to reunification, children who are placed outside of their homes
would remain in foster care only as long as it was necessary to reduce the
risk elements that made it impossible for these children to remain in their
the state would see a reduction in the length of time a
own homes.
Also,
child remained in foster care and utilize those cost savings
to enhance
further reunification efforts.
by reunification workers to accomplish this
The model
that
used
was
objective was as follows:
limited to working with no
The reunification worker was
more than six families at any point in time:
were
.time-limited
and
were
days),
Services
(9n
goal-oriented;
Workers would spend an average
Services were intensiv4.
family
face contact with
the
face
of hours
of
to
35
during the 90 day episode;
is provided in the home by the reunification
Treatment
'primary
worker
worker.
the
reunification
was
The
with
Along
caseworker.
therapist,
the
well
as
as
worker
provide
providing
able
the
therapy,
to
was
the
responsible
obtain
concrete
services
and
to
is
in the
that would assist
necessary community resources
their
reunification and
stabilization of
child
the
in
natural home and
rather than
the
"family"
the
focused
on
are
Services
foster child.
Foster care workers used "regular foster care case management" techniques
to community mental health centers for mental health
which include referral
to alleviate the problems which
treatment, parent education training, etc.,
were present when the child was removed from the home.
reduced caseload and provided
Because the reunification workers had
a
intensive services, children were able to return home earlier, where under a
to remain in care much
they would have had
regular foster care
case
load
closely
longer because the risk of harm could not be managed or monitored
this project that workers thought
Some children were
referred
to
enough.
right
would never be successful in returning home but felt the family had the
for that
to at least one more try prior to finding a more permanent placement
these
Where
successful.
reunification
was
attempts
several
child.
In
their
child
of
the
reunification
to
attempts were not
the
in
successful
natural parents, the foster care worker was provided with sufficient cause to
petition the Juvenile Court for permanent deprivation.
the Department of Human Services
Due to the success of this model,
is
services and will
going to continue to perform these intensive reunification
expand this service to other areas of the state.
Objective III - Project Methodology:
The project was carried out in three Social Service Offices (operational
time staff providing
arm of the Division of Family Services), with five
full
All staff received start up training with
intensive reunification services.
building techniques, behavior modification
regards to psycho education skill
techniques and techniques that relate to bonding and reunification.
Criteria for children being eligible for this project was developed by an
Referral
and
Committee".
Steering
Project
Reunification
"Intensive
needs
research
meet
well
as
as
to
criteria
established
was
eligibility
ensuring that the service provided was assisting children to return home who
would not otherwise be able too.
a model was developed from which workers would
As mentioned previously,
This included a "Special Needs
-structure their efforts towards reunification.
Fund", where workers could assist families with concrete services in order to
enhance the likelihood that a child may return to their natural parents.
The Utah Department of Human Services contracted with the University of
collect
Utah, Graduate School of Social Work, Behavioral Science Institute to
Specifically, the data that was collected was focused
program outcome data.
what family characteristics were most likely to be
family demographics,
on
predictors of success for this type of service, what clinical techniques were
homes.
most successful in stabilizing and maintaining children in their own
The research design was an experimental design with three and six month
post testing.
To gather data to answer the following questions:
(a)
Objective IV:
for reunifying families and
the intensive home-based model
how effective is
intensive home-based services
will
reducing recidivism in foster care? (b)
of stay?
reduce the number of children in foster care as well as the length
for reunification and
(c) are success rates equivalent using the same model
some
program require
reunification
the
does
family preservation
and
(d)
out-of-home
the family preservation model used in prevention of
changes
in
placements?
intensive
who received
families
the
previously,
mentioned
As
(a)
reunified
home-based services as their reunification program were able to be
case
care
foster
received
that
those
to
compared
the
time,
of
as
967.
management were able to be reunified 12% of the time.
from
to return children home
home-based services
intensive
Using
(b)
child is placed out of
foster care will certainly reduce the amount of time a
increasing number of drug addicted parents
the
with
their home. However,
the number of children
whose children are entering the foster care system,
of the imminent
coming into substitute care will most likely increase because
risk of harm these children are faced with and the,crisis their parents are
With the provision the intensive services, these parents will
dealing with.
which will
than have previously existed,
resources
help
and
more
receive
quickly.
increase the likelihood their children can be returned home more
preservation
are
family
and
reunification
for
Success
rates
(c)
equivalent for the 90 day treatment episode (in that children are able to be
placement
has
out-of-home
of
prevention
an
or
reunified
stabilized
and
Six month follow-ups will occur with the reunification families to
occured).
these
families
maintaining
approach
this
in
is
how successful
determine
and submitted to the
be finalized in May 1991
together (these results will
Department of Health and Human Services).
in proving that by using
In conclusion, this project was very successful
intensive home-based services to reunify children to their natural families,
reunification can occur much more quickly than through he use of regular
foster care case management services.
to carry out this project will continue to
Staff who were
identified
provide intensive reunification services and will be funded by the state.
It
is anticipated that this service will be expanded'to other areas of the state.
Attached is a more detailed report of the "Intensive Family Reunification
address more of the
highlight project findings and will
Project" which will
project details.
7
0746f
SECTION II
/
FINAL DETAILED REPORT OF PROJECT FINDINGS, ACTIVITIES AND EVALUATION
The Family Reunification Project became possible through a grant awarded by
Human
Department
of
the
Services
to
Health
of Human
Department
and
the
The research project
Services, Division of Family Services, State of Utah.
(The funding portion
began February 1, 1989, and will terminate May 31,
1991.
from the Department of Health and Human Services terminated November 30, 1990)
that
intensive
demonstrate
of
this
research project
to
purpose
The
is
children
from
home
'returning
effective
home-based
in
services
are
as
substitute care as they are in the prevention of unnecessary substitute care
Intensive in-home services have proven to be effective
the
in
placements.
demonstrated
by
as
placements
unnecessary care
substitute
of
prevention
The next step
to
evaluations conducted in Washington, Michigan and Utah.
is
expand and test the model for reunification.
Following the award of this grant it was felt that at least four months were
initiating
prior
the
to
objectives
following
necessary to
accomplish
the
project:
This project took place in three field offices in the
Site Selection:
I.
Office of Social Services (the operational arm of the Division of Family
These sites were chosen on a voluntary basis and because
Services).
for
criteria
the
fit
sufficient
care cases
to
foster
have
they
Those sites were the Kearns and
reunification in this research project.
Midvale offices in Salt Lake County and the Provo office in Utah County
Initially a rural office was participating in this
(both urban areas).
However, after three months it was decided that such a
small
project.
office was not able to refer sufficient families to the project, and its
involvement was terminated.
Instruments:
The
Develop the Research Design and the Oata Collection
II.
the University of Utah,
Services contracted with
Family
of
Oivision
The Social-
Graduate School of Social Work, Social Research Institute.
to assist with the design of
the project.
Research Institute agreed
collecting the data, analyzing the data and provide a summary of the
findings of the "Intensive Family Reunification Project".
co-principal
are
Ph.D.
Peter
Mark
Pecora,
and
Fraser,
Ph.D.
is the Research Assistant from
investigators, and Elaine Walton, MSW,
the University of Utah, Graduate School of Social Work, Social Research
from
the
coordinator
research
Robert Lewis
the
Ph.D.
Institute.
is
collection
data
the
who _coordinated
Services,
Human
of
Department
systems within the Department that assisted with this project.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the project used an experimental and
been used with
this
that has
The research design
group.
control
a
month
with
six
design
post-test only experimental
a
project
a
is
Descriptive information was, collected at the end of the 90
follow-up.
Oata
day service period for both the experimental and control groups.
child
collected focused on factors associated with child placement and
collected
same type of information will
six
be
This
reunification.
months post termination of the 90 day episode.
following
obtained
the
developed
or
Institute
Research
The
Social
instrumenti for the data collection in this research project:
9
To be completed by the natural parents of the child in the
study:
Index of Parental Attitudes (Hudson)
Index of Selfesteem (Hudson)
Family Assessment Device (McMasters)
To be completed by the case worker:
Family Demographics (Social Research Institute)
Goal Checklist (Social Research Institute)
Case Termination:
Worker Survey (Social Research Institute)
Worker Survey (Social Research Institute)
To be completed by children over the
age of ten:
"Child Behavior Check List" (Achenbach).
An
"Informed Consent" Form was developed
both
for
the
parents
and
children (over the age of six) involved in this project.
A random sampling procedure for case selection was developed by
Robert
Lewis.
All
foster care cases in the State of Utah are tracked by
a
statewide computer system.
The data collected and retrained by this
system includes both demographic and case planning information.
computer printout
A
(derived
from
foster
the
care
data
collection
system) was run every month for each project site.
One element that is
kept for each child in this data base is the "Permanency Goal" for each
child.
The printout was designed to list by worker, all
cases of foster
children who had "Return Home" as their permanency goal.
Upon reeeipt of the computer list,
foster care workers reviewed these
cases with their supe- isor to determine which cases could be referred
reunification
to
the
project
which
and
cases
were
eligible
not
(eligibility criteria will be defined later on).
After the eligibility
determination was made,
the foster care supervisors would return the
list to the reunification workers who would tally
up the total number of
children identified as
candidates
for the project during that month.
The reunification worker would then assign numbers to these families in
chronological
order.
The reunification worker would
then inform
the
project coordinator of the_total number of cases identified that month.
The same process was used in all subsequent
cases.
A random sampling
procedure
developed using
was
the
LOTUS
computer
programming system.
The Coordinator entered the number of children who
were eligible for such services and the program assigned each case a
random number.
Those cases identified with even numbers were assigned
to be in the experimental group and all
cases assigned an odd number
were placed in the control group.
The reunification worker would then
begin with the number one experimental foster child randomly assigned on
the list and prepare for reunification.
Concurrently, the number one
case would be designated and evaluated during the
control
same time
period as the experimental case.
Hire
III.
the
Reunification
Workers:
From
designated project sites,
the
three reunification workers were converted from foster care positions
new
and two
staff
staff were
were
hired
the
project.
for
These
hired/converted into these positions based on
their
interest
this
in
project and their ability to provide a unique type of service to this
population.
A target date of July 1,
1989, was set to have these staff
hired, trained, and ready to accept referrals.