Survey of Prevention Programs for Substance Abusing Parents
The New York City child welfare system has in the last decade undergone an historic shift in focus from out of home care to prevention/in-home care for at-risk children and families (Bloomberg and Mattingly, February 2005). As a result, congregate care facilities are closing, foster home/adoption programs underwent “right-sizing” and there has been substantial new investments in prevention services and significant emphasis on prevention programs as an alternative to placement. In fact, for the past several years the number of children served in prevention programs has outpaced the number of children in foster care. As of December 2007 over 32,000 children were served in prevention programs compared to about 17,000 in foster care (a decrease of about 30,000 cases since 1991). The system’s goal is to continue this trend by serving children in prevention programs whenever possible in order to maintain children in their families and communities. In the face of this emphasis on prevention, it is an ideal time to take a closer look at the range and types of services offered to families in these programs. Currently, there are 75 agencies operating over 200 general prevention programs, 20 of which also offer family rehabilitative programs (FRPs). The content and structure of these programs—once guidelines are met— are left to the discretion of the individual programs. In light of this latitude, it is reasonable to assume that each agency has developed its own specific program model and implementation strategy. Although it is likely that variation exists across programs, there has been no effort to date to document the ways in which agencies provide prevention services (outside of the use of model programs). The current study was designed to address this gap in knowledge about the service delivery of FRP prevention programs in New York City. The sample was comprised of program directors of all ACS-contracted FRP programs in New York City (n=26). A 100% response rate was obtained and all agencies participated in the study. Survey respondents participated in a one hour telephone survey. The findings from the survey have led to the identification of close to 20 recommendations for improving services and practice. A final report has been created with the approval and input of ACS.
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