Family Assessment Form Research
The FAF assessment tool has been used throughout the US and internationally by child welfare and family service agencies for over 30 years. Changes between pre- and post-test scores have been used to demonstrate program success and inform agency program improvement decisions.
The reliability and validity of the tool has been proven and documented in the following publications:
- Family-Centered Services: Approaches and Effectiveness. McCroskey & Meezan, 1997
- Family preservation: The impact of poverty, environment and family characteristics on family functioning. Amland, 1996
- Multi-family group therapy: Impact on family functioning and child behavior. Meezan and O’Keefe, 1998
- Safety, permanency, and in-home services: Applying administrative data, Fluke, John D; Edwards, Myles; Kutzler, Patrick; Kuna, Joseph; Tooman, Gregory, Child Welfare, Sep/Oct 2000
- An item response theory investigation of the Family Assessment Form. Todd Franke, Christina A. Christie, Jennifer Ho, Lingyun Du, March 2013
In addition, the tool has been utilized to measure program efficacy in the following studies:
- Administrative and Standardized Assessment Data to Measure Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being: Experience in Philidelphia. Halnon, Kutzler, Randall
- Dr. Diane DePanfilis at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Social Work has used the FAF in a model family neglect program for years and conducted program evaluation studies. Based on their program model, the Children’s Bureau funded a five year replication study in which FAF was the key measure of family functioning, and is being used across eight agencies in six states as part of the replication.
- Researchers at the University of Southern California evaluated the FAF in First 5 LA’s Partnership for Families programs.
- Post-investigation Service Need and Utilization Among Families At Risk of Maltreatment, James Simon. Child and Youth Services Review, October 2016.
- Simon, James David, Brooks, Devon (2017). Identifying families with complex needs after an initial child abuse investigation: A comparison of demographics and needs related to domestic violence, mental health, and substance use. Child Abuse & Neglect, Volume 67, May 2017, 294-304.
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Targeting services to reduce need after a child abuse investigation: Examining complex needs, matched services, and meaningful change. Simon and Brooks, 2019. Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 99, April 2019.