Publications and Reports

Since its inception in 1988 and as FCT developed, the model has maintained fidelity to the fundamental best practice standards / components for intensive in home services: (Definition of Home Based Family Centered Treatment - Stroul, 1988).

Effectiveness of Family Centered Treatment on reunification and days in care: Propensity score matched sample from Indiana child welfare data

Published in Children and Youth Services Review journal, the aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of FCT on time to reunification for children in a child welfare system not also involved with the juvenile justice system. The sample of 187 children who received FCT was matched with the large data set of administrative data of children in the child welfare system at the same time. Using the analytic tool of propensity score matching on key demographic variables of age, gender, race, and number of children in the family, researchers created a statistically equivalent proxy group of 187 children who did not receive FCT during the same timeframe.

Barbara J. Pierce, Finneran K. Muzzey, Kori R. Bloomquist, Teresa M. Imburgia, Effectiveness of Family Centered Treatment on reunification and days in care: Propensity score matched sample from Indiana child welfare data, Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 136, 2022, 106395, ISSN 0190-7409, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106395.

A Quasi-experimental Evaluation of Family Centered Treatment® in the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services Community Based Non-residential Program: Child Permanency. R. 2021

Commissioned on behalf of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and Arkansas Department of Human Services. In support of a commitment to child permanency and child welfare, and in the face of budget cuts, a pilot program was implemented to provide Family Centered Treatment® (FCT) to adjudicated youth in their homes and communities as an alternative to costly out-of-home placements. The pilot is a diversion program; many youths who would otherwise be removed from their homes and interred in a restrictive residential setting, may instead remain in their home and receive FCT services.

Sullivan, Melonie B. Department of Research, FamiliFirst, Inc.; Bennear, Lori Snyder Department of Environmental Economics and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University; A Quasi-experimental Evaluation of Family Centered Treatment® in the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services Community Based Non-residential Program: Child Permanency R2021. Commissioned for Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and Arkansas Department of Human Services, August 2021.

Family Centered Treatment, Juvenile Justice, and the Grand Challenge of Smart Decarceration

Responding to social work’s grand challenge of smart decarceration, this study investigated whether Family Centered Treatment (FCT), a home-based service for juvenile court-involved youth, is more effective than group care (GC) in reducing recidivism. Outcomes are juvenile readjudication and commitment to placement, and adult conviction and sentence of incarceration.


Bright, C. L., Betsinger, S., Farrell, J., Winters, A., Dutrow, D., Lee, B. R., & Afkinich, J. University of Maryland School of Social Work. Family Centered Treatment, Juvenile Justice, and the Grand Challenge of Smart Decarceration Research on Social Work Practice 1-8 ª The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journals Permissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1049731517730127 journals.sagepub.com/home/rsw

Indiana Department of Child Services Child Welfare Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project. Final Report

As part of the original Terms and Conditions of the Indiana 2012 IV-e Waiver, the Indiana University (IU) project team developed a sub-study which focused on the implementation and effectiveness of a specific treatment program. After considering options, IU developed a research design that evaluated the impact and effectiveness of Family Centered Treatment (FCT) which was implemented with Waiver funds.

Indiana Department of Child Services Child Welfare Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project. Final Report. Prepared by: The Indiana University Evaluation Team & The Department of Child Services, 2018. US Government submitted and republished in Profiles of the Active Title IV-E Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations, Prepared for: Children’s Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Prepared by: James Bell Associates Arlington, VA July 2018.

Update: Indiana IV-E Wavier Demonstration 2019 01 Semi-annual Report submitted to Administration for Children and Families (2019). Prepared by: The Indiana University Evaluation Team & The Department of Child Services, January 2019

Youth Outcomes Following Family Centered Treatment in Maryland

Family Centered Treatment is designed to reduce out-of-home placements for youth involved with the juvenile justice system. FCT provides services in youths’ home communities, within their families. Previous research has supported the effectiveness of FCT, and it appears in three registries of promising or effective programs for youth and families. The current project represents a larger, independently led study of the intervention in Maryland. The report summarizes findings from an external evaluation of FCT, with a focus on outcomes, cost, and program implementation.

Bright, C. L., Betsinger, S., Farrell, J., Winters, A., Dutrow, D., Lee, B. R., & Afkinich, J. (2017). Youth Outcomes Following Family Centered Treatment® in Maryland. Baltimore, MD: University of Maryland School of Social Work. April, 2017

Family Centered Treatment—An Alternative to Residential Placements for Adjudicated Youth: Outcomes and Cost-Effectiveness

In this long-term follow-up study of adjudicated youth in the state of Maryland, FCT is shown to be a promising and cost- effective alternative to residential placements. In the first year following treatment, we found that youth receiving FCT significantly reduced the frequency of their offenses and adjudications, and that the proportion of youth with offenses and adjudications was also significantly reduced. These findings were sustained 2 years post-treatment.

Sullivan, Melonie B. Department of Research, FamiliFirst, Inc.; Bennear, Lori Snyder Department of Environmental Economics and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University; Honess, Karen Independent Contractor, FamiliFirst, Inc.; Painter, Jr., William E., Department of Organizational Development, Institute for Family Centered Services; Wood, Timothy J. Department of Research, FamiliFirst, Inc. Family Centered Treatment®—An Alternative to Residential Placements for Adjudicated Youth: Outcomes and Cost- Effectiveness. OJJDP Journal of Juvenile Justice, Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2012, Pages 25-37.

Adapting Juvenile Justice Interventions to Serve Youth with Trauma Histories

The study is designed to understand the experiences and perceptions of service providers and supervisors who provide Family Centered Treatment to juvenile court-involved families. The study explored the experiences about the level of comfort and skill in working with traumatized youth, the procedures they use to assess for trauma, the adaptations they make to existing services in the cause of trauma, and their perceptions of the success of these efforts.

Bright, C. L. (2017, July). Adapting juvenile justice interventions to serve youth with trauma histories. Presented at the International Academy of Law and Mental Health¹s 35th International Congress on Law and Mental Health, Prague, Czech Republic.

National evaluation of Safe Start Promising Approaches Assessing Program Implementation.

RAND Corporation researchers evaluated the SSPA phase of the initiative in collaboration with the national evaluation team: OJJDP, the Safe Start Center, the Association for the Study and Development of Communities (ASDC), and the 15 program sites. The evaluation design involved three components: a process evaluation, including a cost analysis; an evaluation of Summary xi training; and an outcomes evaluation. The report presents the results of the implementation process evaluation as well as the cost and training evaluation results.

Schultz, D., Jaycox, L. H., Hickman, L. J., Chandra, A., Barnes-Proby, D., Acosta, J., Honess-Morreale, L. (2010). National evaluation of Safe Start Promising Approaches Assessing Program Implementation.

Current Studies

Reducing the Need for Out-of-Home Placements: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Examine the Effects of Family Centered Treatment on Well-Being Outcomes and Public Dollar Costs

Does Family Centered Treatment (FCT) result in better youth, family, and cost outcomes, as compared to a Level III out-of-home placement (OHP)?

The investigators test the hypotheses that among children/youth authorized to a Level III out-of-home placement, relative to youth who receive such a placement, those who receive FCT will have:

  • Better: family functioning and mental/behavioral health outcomes (youth and caregiver).

  • Lower probability of: being subject of a child protective services report, entering (or re-entering) foster care, being arrested, being retained in grade, being chronically absent (missing >15 days), dropping out of high school, or receiving an out-of-home placement.

  • Lower cost of care.