Family Finding Evaluations: A Summary of Recent Findings

This brief reviews the results from 13 evaluations of Family Finding that have been released over the past two years. Overall, the evidence available from the recent evaluations is not sufficient to conclude that Family Finding improves youth outcomes above and beyond existing, traditional services. At the same time, the evidence is not sufficient to conclude that Family Finding does not improve outcomes. We identify three hypotheses regarding the lack of consistently positive impacts, which are not mutually exclusive, and explore the implications of each: 1) Family Finding may not have been completely and consistently implemented, 2) study parameters may not have been sufficient to detect impacts, and 3) assumptions regarding how intervention activities and outputs will result in outcomes are flawed

A Rigorous Evaluation of Family Finding in North Carolina

Child Trends evaluated Family Finding services in nine North Carolina counties through a rigorous impact evaluation and an accompanying process study. The impact evaluation involved random assignment of eligible children to a treatment or control group. The treatment group received Family Finding services in addition to traditional child welfare services, whereas the control group received traditional child welfare services only. Eligible children were in foster care; were 10 or older at the time of referral; did not have a goal of reunification; and lacked an identified permanent placement. The accompanying process study examined program outputs, outcomes, and linkages between the project components and other contextual factors

Behavior Problems in New York City's Children After September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks

Children’s behavior was assessed with 3 cross-sectional random-digit-dial telephone surveys conducted 11 months before, 4 months after, and 6 months after September 11, 2001. Parents reported fewer behavior problems in children 4 months after the attacks compared with the pre-September 11 baseline. However, 6 months after the attacks, parents’ reporting of behavior problems was comparable to pre-September 11 levels. In the 1st few months after a disaster, the identification of children who need mental health treatment may be complicated by a dampened behavioral response or by a decreased sensitivity of parental assessment to behavioral problems.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40274/2/Stuber_Behavior Problems in New York City's Children_2005.pd