Re: Family Pres/Reunif Studies

["Julia H. Littell" <jlittell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I would argue that Professor Kirk's critique of the "national" evaluation
and his evaluation of FPS in North Carolina are not at all rigorous.
Although the NC program is touted as "effective," there is no control group
and the quasi-experimental comparisons do not address most threats to
internal validity. 

With the exception of the recent study in Detroit (by Blythe et al.),
results of the other studies cited below are included in the review (by
John Schuerman and me) on the ASPE website. To my knowledge the full report
on the Detroit study has not yet been made public. I'd greatly appreciate
information on how to get this report.


At 02:08 PM 3/18/2002 EST, you wrote:
>In a message dated 3/18/02 1:11:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
>jlittell@brynmawr.edu writes:
>
>> 
>>  Findings for family preservation programs in three sites (NJ, KY, TN) are 
>at:
>> 
>>  http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/hsp/fampres94/index.htm
>
>A rigorous critique of this study -- and of the general conclusion that IFPS 
>programs do not prevent placement, by Prof. Ray Kirk of the Jordan Institute 
>for Families, University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill can be found at the 
>website of the National Family Preservation Network, 
>http://nfpn.org/resources/articles/critique.html  
>
>In another study, included in the list below, Prof. Kirk concludes that 
>"there is a growing body of evidence that IFPS works, in that it is more 
>effective than traditional services in preventing out-of-home placements of 
>children in high-risk families."
>
>An examination of the safety and effectiveness of IFPS also should include 
>the following studies:
>
> . Carol Berquist, et. al., Evaluation of Michigan's Families First Program 
>(Lansing Mich: University Associates, March, 1993).
>  Betty J. Blythe, Ph.D., Srinika Jayaratne, Ph.D, Michigan Families First 
>Effectiveness Study: A Summary of Findings, Sept. 28, 1999, p.18.
>  . Mark W. Fraser, et. al., Families in Crisis: The Impact of Intensive 
>Family Preservation Services (New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 1991), p.168.
> . S. Wood, S., K. Barton, C. Schroeder, "In-Home Treatment of Abusive 
>Families: Cost and Placement at One Year." Psychotherapy Vol. 25 (1988) pp. 
>409-14, cited in Howard Bath and David Haapala, "Family Preservation 
>Services: What Does the Outcome Research Really Tell Us," Social Services 
>Review, September, 1994, Table A1, p.400. 
>  R.S. Kirk, Tailoring Intensive Family Preservation Services for Family 
>Reunification Cases: Research, Evaluation and Assessment, 
>(www.nfpn.org/resourcess/articles/tailoring.html).
> . I.M. Schwartz, et. al., "Family Preservation Services as an Alternative
to 
>Out-of-Home Placement of Adolescents," in K. Wells and D.E. Biegel, eds., 
>Family Preservation Services: Research and Evaluation (Newbury Park, CA: 
>Sage, 1991) pp.33-46, cited in Bath and Happala, note 3, supra.
>  R.E. Lewis, et. al., "Examining family reunification services: A process 
>analysis of a successful experiment," Research on Social Work Practice, 5, 
>(3), 259-282, cited in Kirk, supra.
>   A. Heneghan, et. al., Evaluating Intensive Family Preservation
Services: A 
>methodological review.  Pediatrics, 97(4), 535-542, cited in Prof. Kirk's 
>critique.
>
> 2) under ASFA, family preservation/reunification are subordinate
>>  to the safety and permanence of children's living situations. 
>
>ASFA says that the child's safety is the "paramount" goal.  Family 
>preservation is "subordinate" only if one assumes that attempting an IFPS 
>intervention is a less safe option than removing the child to substitute
care 
>before attempting such an intervention.  In some cases, of course, that is 
>true.  But I am aware of no study, not even those that claim IFPS is 
>ineffective, that claims it is also unsafe.  And there are some data on the 
>rate of abuse in substitute care that are alarming.  A good case can be
made, 
>therefore, that in most cases attempting an IFPS intervention is a *safer* 
>option than moving immediately to placement, and therefore more in keeping 
>with the ASFA mandate.  
>
>Richard Wexler
>Executive Director
>National Coalition for Child Protection Reform
>53 Skyhill Road (Suite 202)
>Alexandria VA 22314
>Phone/fax: (703) 212-2006
>www.nccpr.org
>
>