Evaluation of Upfront Family Finding: Key Findings December, 2018

Key Program Findings Implemented as intended, office culture shifted—more positive perception of relatives as resources. Relatives were interested in supporting children across all ages, although relatives’ willingness to take placement decreased as the child’s age increased.  

Key Program Findings NREFMs* had a higher likelihood of offering support, presumably because they are already involved in the child’s life. More maternal than paternal relatives were identified. *For the purposes of this study, placements with NREFMs were counted as relative placements and the term “relative” in this presentation includes both kin and NREFMs, unless NREFMs are explicitly identified.

Key Program Findings On average, 17 relatives were found for children new to out-of-home care. 60 percent of children had at least one relative interested in providing a placement. 80 percent of children had at least one relative interested in visits or phone calls.  

Key Outcome Findings UFF increased the probability of relative placement. Both pilot offices—one with a history of high rates of relative placement and one more closely aligned with other local offices—achieved gains in relative placement. The increase in the probability of relative placement was true for all newly detained children as well as for children not initially placed with relatives (although the increase did not reach statistical significance among the subsample of those not initially placed with relatives).  

Key Outcome Findings All newly detained children   All newly detained children Newly detained children not initially placed with relatives Pilot offices vs. comparison offices Relative placement Increase None Reunification Relative placement disruption (to any placement) Relative placement disruption (to a non-relative placement) This slide shows statistically significant findings from the outcome study (p<.05). Trends in relative placement for children not initially placed with relatives were positive, but did not reach standard levels of statistical significance Evaluation findings regarding relative placement disruption and reunification were not consistent across offices and subpopulations of children

Questions? Kate Welti kwelti@childtrends.org Karin Malm kmalm@childtrends.org