Provided by David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Surgeon General of the United States of America
Chapter 3: Children and Mental Health
Services Interventions
Treatment Interventions
Family Preservation Programs Under the Child Welfare System
Within the child welfare system, particularly effective family reunification
programs were the Homebuilders Program in Tacoma, Washington, which was designed
to reunify abused and neglected children with their families by providing
family-based services (Fraser et al., 1996), and the family reunification
programs in Washington State and in Utah (Pecora et al., 1991). Studies
suggested that 75 to 90 percent of the children and adolescents who participated
in such programs subsequently did not require placement outside the home. The
youths’ verbal and physical aggression decreased, and cost of services was
reduced (Hinckley & Ellis, 1985). The success of these family preservation
programs is based on the following: services are delivered in a home and
community setting; family members are viewed as colleagues in defining a service
plan; back-up services are available 24 hours a day; skills are built according
to the individual needs of family members; marital and family interventions are
offered; community services are efficiently coordinated; and assistance with
basic needs such as food, housing, and clothing is given (Fraser et al., 1997).
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