Evaluating family preservation services: Reframing the question of effectiveness

Family preservation services (FPS) were developed to prevent the unnecessary placement of children in foster care. Most descriptive reports and other non-experimental research cite the effectiveness of FPS in keeping families together; experimental and quasi-experimental studies, however, report more mixed findings. In light of conflicting findings and given that FPS have been effective for some families and not for others, the question of “Are family preservation services effective in preventing out-of-home placement?” needs to be reframed to “Under what service conditions are family preservation services effective in preventing out-of-home placement and for which families?” Using case-file data from 488 families who received FPS in Los Angeles County, the current study examined the “black box” implicit within this reframed question. A series of logistic regressions tested four models predicting program outcome (successful vs. unsuccessful program completion). The models testing the main effects of family and service characteristics alone were significant; however, including interaction terms between these variables in a combined model did not significantly improve the model. In addition, duration of services emerged as a key predictor of outcome such that the longer families received services, the greater the likelihood for a successful outcome. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.