Re: Family involvement in out-of-home placements

[Rick Barth <rbarth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Sandra's information from the CFSRs, regarding the correlation between 
visiting and the achievement of permanency, is important because it 
reaffirms findings that have recurred at least since Fanshel and Shinn's 
landmark study in the 1970s. At the same time, it is worth a short note 
to reiterate that families that have the means and competence to visit 
are most likely to be good candidates for reuinfication/permanency and 
we need more work that examines, in an experimental way (or by using 
propensity score matching to simulate such a design) that compares 
families with equal propensity to visit and with different levels of 
visiting to see how much of a difference that makes.

The point is not to determine whether visiting should occur as NSCAW 
clearly shows that visiting is highly sought by almost all children, it 
is the fair thing to do, and it is a necessary condition of 
reunification. Basically, visiting must occur but it is highly unlikely 
that it is sufficient , but it is only to determine how much more 
permanency we could get if we markedly increased our efforts to increase 
visiting.

If we cannot markedly increase our success at achieving lasting 
reunification through visiting, then it seems that we would become more 
ready to try alternative strategies--including shared family care (in 
which mother and child are placed together so that the visiting issue is 
moot) or programs that include visiting or reunification parent training 
in which the visits are not just to make emotional contact but offer 
many focused learning opportunities during visiting at the foster home 
and during visits to the biological home that can help improve the 
chances of a successful reunification.

Encouraging and supporting visiting is certainly best practice but with 
the low reunification rates that we have, I think that we would do well 
to explore ways to go beyond visiting and expand the array of practices 
that really matter to families who are able to reunify but unlikely to 
do so given current practices.

Rick

Sandra Slappey wrote:

> Hi there,
> Sorry this response is so delayed - I don't get to my listserve 
> messages often enough! Below are some resources that may be useful:
> One place to go is the Federal Child and Family Service Reviews that 
> found parental visits to correlate with permanency outcomes: 
> http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/cwmonitoring/results/genfindings04/genfindings04.pdf 
> and 
> http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/cwmonitoring/results/statefindings.ppt.
> Websites with information about evidence-based practice in child 
> welfare (may contain some related to family engagement):
>
> Integrating Research into Practice: Best Practice Bibliographies: 
> http://cfrcwww.social.uiuc.edu/respract/bestpracbibs.htm
>
> The Children and Family Research Center at the University of Illinois 
> at Urbana-Champaign provides bibliographies outlining best practices 
> in approximately 55 child welfare topical areas. Articles were found 
> by searching library databases and reviewing the websites of related 
> organizations using relevant keywords, but specific criteria for 
> inclusion in the bibliography is not provided.
>
> Evidence Based Practice Tool: http://www.rom.ku.edu/EBP_Main.asp
>
> Results Oriented Management in Child Welfare created the Evidence 
> Based Practice Tool, a Web-based tool providing summaries of child 
> welfare research evidence associated with the six major CFSR outcome 
> measures. Studies cited in this tool have been separated into two 
> categories: those demonstrating a high level of evidence and those 
> demonstrating a medium level of evidence. Ratings are based on a 
> system developed by the Child Welfare League of America.
>
> Literature about family engagement and achieving permanency:
> *Evaluation of the Families Together Project.*
> Sibbison, Virginia Hayes.
> St. Christopher-Ottilie Services for Children and Families. Welfare 
> Research, Inc. Families Together Project.
> 2000
> Publication Information: Sea Cliff, NY : St. Christopher-Ottilie 
> Services for Children and Families.
> Available from: National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect 
> Information
> 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW
> Washington, DC 20447
> Tel: 800-394-3366 703-385-7565
> naic@caliber.com <mailto:naic@caliber.com>
> Available from: http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov <http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/>
> Sponsoring Organization: Children's Bureau
> Implemented as a grant program in Brooklyn, New York, the Families 
> Together Project utilized concurrent planning and family group 
> conferencing to expedite permanency and increase family involvement in 
> plans for children in foster care. Emphasis was placed on 
> non-adversarial placements such as guardianship, custody, voluntary 
> relinquishment of parental rights, and open adoptions. In addition, 
> staff members were encouraged to develop partnerships with families 
> and foster parents. The participant group included 47 families that 
> received concurrent planning services. Of these families, 18 also had 
> family group conferences. The characteristics and outcomes for project 
> families were compared to 24 matched families referred to the agency. 
> Participant children were more likely than comparison children to have 
> been returned to their families and to have been screened for 
> developmental delays. Project children also were in foster care for 
> less time than children in the comparison group. Birth parents and 
> foster parents who participated in the project reported greater 
> involvement in the service plan review process and were more satisfied 
> with services than comparison parents. Project staff reported positive 
> outcomes and high satisfaction levels. There was no significant 
> difference between participant and comparison families in the time 
> spent in Family Court. Training manuals and instruments designed for 
> the demonstration project have been implemented throughout the entire 
> agency.
> workforce *family* *engagement* *permanency* planning case management 
> expedited *permanency* planning concurrent planning family group 
> conferencing family reunification *family* *engagement* adoption 
> guardianship nonadversarial case resolution foster parents training 
> program evaluations demonstration programs
>
> *Best practices of empowerment-oriented permanency planning : 
> facilitating change and self-development in parents and families : a 
> handbook for caseworkers. 4th ed. / Council of Family and Child Caring 
> Agencies.*
> Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies. Michael A. Neff, P.C.
> 2000
> Publication Information: New York : Michael A. Neff, P.C.
> Distributed by: Michael A. Neff, P.C.
> 5 West 86th Street Suite 6B
> New York, NY 10024
> Tel: 212-799-3394
> MANEFFPC@aol.com <mailto:MANEFFPC@aol.com>
> Available from: http://www.nysccc.org/Neff/neffbiography.htm
> Designed for caseworkers, this handbook presents family-centered, 
> empowerment-oriented best practices for assisting families in 
> permanency planning. It begins by providing an overview of the 
> philosophy of permanency and the incorporation of this philosophy into 
> the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA). Chapter 2 discusses 
> the caseworker-attorney partnership and the differences and overlap of 
> their roles. Chapter 3 explains how the foster care paradigm can be 
> transformed from solving problems to a family-centered, 
> reparation-driven, and empowerment-oriented system. The Resiliency Web 
> is presented, along with principles of empowerment-oriented permanency 
> planning. Following chapters address: maintaining primal attachments 
> and promoting secure attachment; the ASFA timeline; concurrent 
> planning for reunification and alternative homes; obtaining 
> information, recording it, and reporting it; planning change and 
> facilitating family group conferencing and decision making; promoting 
> change, delivering services, and enabling parents; measuring changes 
> through service plan reviews; terminating parental rights due to 
> mental illness, mental retardation, severe abuse, repeated abuse, 
> permanent neglect, or abandonment; and reunification. The final 
> chapter discusses recapitulation and empowerment policies, practices, 
> and principles. An empowerment approach to readying parents for a 
> child's safe return is presented, along with empowerment strategies 
> and techniques. An appendix includes a list of readings on the concept 
> of using empowerment principles to address different family problems, 
> assessment materials, and inventories.
> promising practices empowerment *permanency* planning family support 
> systems *family* *engagement* family centered services caseworkers 
> guidelines
>
> Hope this is helpful!
>
> /Sandra Slappey, MSW/
> /Child Welfare Program Manager/
> /National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information 
> (http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov <http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/>)/
> /National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (http://naic.acf.hhs.gov 
> <http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/>)/
> /Operated by Caliber, an ICF Consulting Company, for the Children's 
> Bureau, US DHHS/
> /Direct Telephone: 703-219-4417/
> /Main Telephone: 800-394-3366/
> /Email: sslappey@caliber.com/
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     *From:* owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
>     [mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu]*On Behalf
>     Of *Joe Ryan
>     *Sent:* Tuesday, December 06, 2005 2:10 PM
>     *To:* Child Maltreatment Researchers
>     *Subject:* RE: Family involvement in out-of-home placements
>
>     Tim
>
>     The follow paper might be of interest – depending on whether or
>     not residential programs for delinquent youth are of interest.
>
>     Ryan, J. P., & Yang, H. (2005). Family Contact and Recidivism: A
>     Longitudinal Study of Adjudicated Delinquents in Residential Care.
>
>     /Social Work Research/. Vol. 29 (1), 31-39.
>
>     Joe
>
>     Joseph P. Ryan, Ph.D.
>
>     School of Social Work
>
>     Children and Family Research Center
>
>     University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
>     1207 West Oregon Street
>
>     Urbana IL 61801
>
>     217-244-5235
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>     *From:* owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
>     [mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu] *On
>     Behalf Of *Tim Williams
>     *Sent:* Monday, December 05, 2005 4:02 PM
>     *To:* Child Maltreatment Researchers
>     *Subject:* Family involvement in out-of-home placements
>
>     I am a graduate-level intern at a large child welfare agency in
>     New England where I work for the Department for Performance and
>     Outcomes. One of the projects I am working on is to research
>     family involvment in out-of-home placements with the hopes of
>     generating a 'best practice' report based off of a literature
>     review as well as seeking out service providers or reports that
>     may contribute to my knowledge base. Any links to resources or
>     information you may have would be most helpful.
>
>     Tim Williams, MSW Candidate
>
>     Intern, Department for Performance & Outcomes
>
>     The Home for Little Wanderers
>
>     "Where hope lives"
>
>     www.thehome.org
>
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