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Reunification Programs

Scientific Ratings in this Topic
  • 1 Well-Supported by Research Evidence
  • 2 Supported by Research Evidence
  • 3 Promising Research Evidence
  • 4 Evidence Fails to Demonstrate Effect
  • 5 Concerning Practice
  • NR Not able to be Rated

Topic Areas

Topic Areas

Definition

Reunification Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs to support the reunification of children and birth families after child welfare involvement. Over 350,000 children were in foster care or other out-of-home placements in the United States in 2022. For 52% of these children, the case goal is reunification (i.e., returning them to their biological parents) as quickly and safely as possible. To assist with reunification, child welfare provides services to the child and the child's parents. These services are time-limited and intended to provide support during the reunification process. They may be geared towards addressing the causes for the child's removal and placement into foster care.

In addition to the programs specifically focused on supporting reunification, which are listed below, it is also important to keep in mind that specific services focused on the reason for removal may need to be put into place during the reunification process. Common services associated with reunification include visitation between parent and child, visitation between siblings (if separated), case management services from the social worker, parent training, anger management, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment for the child and parent(s), and domestic violence services. Please note that many of these areas have been reviewed by the CEBC; please click here for a list of topic areas on the CEBC.

  • Target population: Youth in out-of-home placements and their families
  • Services/types that fit: Services to address the unique needs of each family delivered in individual, group, or family formats such as visitation, case management, education, skill building, and/or service delivery
  • Delivered by: Child welfare workers, mental health professionals, or trained paraprofessionals
  • In order to be included: Program must specifically target reunification supports for youth in out-of-home placements and their families
  • In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines outcomes related to reunification, such as decreased time to reunification as well as decreased disruptions and maltreatment reports after reunification

Downloadable Topic Area Summary

Definition

Reunification Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs to support the reunification of children and birth families after child welfare involvement. Over 350,000 children were in foster care or other out-of-home placements in the United States in 2022. For 52% of these children, the case goal is reunification (i.e., returning them to their biological parents) as quickly and safely as possible. To assist with reunification, child welfare provides services to the child and the child's parents. These services are time-limited and intended to provide support during the reunification process. They may be geared towards addressing the causes for the child's removal and placement into foster care.

In addition to the programs specifically focused on supporting reunification, which are listed below, it is also important to keep in mind that specific services focused on the reason for removal may need to be put into place during the reunification process. Common services associated with reunification include visitation between parent and child, visitation between siblings (if separated), case management services from the social worker, parent training, anger management, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment for the child and parent(s), and domestic violence services. Please note that many of these areas have been reviewed by the CEBC; please click here for a list of topic areas on the CEBC.

  • Target population: Youth in out-of-home placements and their families
  • Services/types that fit: Services to address the unique needs of each family delivered in individual, group, or family formats such as visitation, case management, education, skill building, and/or service delivery
  • Delivered by: Child welfare workers, mental health professionals, or trained paraprofessionals
  • In order to be included: Program must specifically target reunification supports for youth in out-of-home placements and their families
  • In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines outcomes related to reunification, such as decreased time to reunification as well as decreased disruptions and maltreatment reports after reunification

Downloadable Topic Area Summary

Why was this topic chosen by the Advisory Committee?

The Reunification Programs topic area is relevant to child welfare because reunification services are legally required as part of child welfare services when a child is removed from their parent(s) or guardian(s). It is important that social workers understand what programs provide evidence-based services that will assist the family in making the necessary changes in order to have their children returned to their physical custody. These services are typically intensive and family-centered.

Danna Fabella, Director, Linkages Project
Child and Family Policy Institute of California
Sacramento, CA

Why was this topic chosen by the Advisory Committee?

The Reunification Programs topic area is relevant to child welfare because reunification services are legally required as part of child welfare services when a child is removed from their parent(s) or guardian(s). It is important that social workers understand what programs provide evidence-based services that will assist the family in making the necessary changes in order to have their children returned to their physical custody. These services are typically intensive and family-centered.

Danna Fabella, Director, Linkages Project
Child and Family Policy Institute of California
Sacramento, CA

Topic Expert

The Reunification Programs topic area was added in 2006. Anthony N. Maluccio, DSW was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2006 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2006 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Maluccio was not involved in identifying or rating them.

Topic Expert

The Reunification Programs topic area was added in 2006. Anthony N. Maluccio, DSW was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2006 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2006 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Maluccio was not involved in identifying or rating them.

Programs

Homebuilders®

Homebuilders® is a home- and community-based intensive family preservation services treatment program designed to avoid unnecessary placement of children and youth into foster care, group care, psychiatric hospitals, or juvenile justice facilities. The program model engages families by delivering services in their natural environment, at times when they are most receptive to learning, and by enlisting them as partners in assessment, goal setting, and treatment planning. Reunification cases often require case activities related to reintegrating the child into the home and community. Examples include helping the parent find childcare, enrolling the child in school, refurbishing the child’s bedroom, and helping the child connect with clubs, sports or other community groups. Child neglect referrals often require case activities related to improving the physical condition of the home, improving supervision of children, decreasing parental depression and/or alcohol and substance abuse, and helping families access needed community supports.

Scientific Rating 2

On the Way Home

OTWH is a 12–14 month reunification program developed to address the transition needs of middle and high school youths with, or at-risk of, emotional and behavioral disorders who are reintegrating into the home and community school settings following a stay in residential care. The program modifies and integrates three interventions: Check & Connect, Common Sense Parenting, and homework support to address the educational and family-based transition challenges most common for school-aged youths. Services are provided by a trained OTWH Consultant in the family home, school, and community, and primary objectives are to promote youth home stability and prevent school dropout. On average, families engage in 2 hours of direct service hours per week and consultants carry caseloads of up to 15 families. Training is manualized, service decisions are guided by weekly data analysis, and consultants are supervised in weekly individual and group consultation.

Scientific Rating 2

Iowa Parent Partner Approach

Iowa Parent Partner Approach is an approach designed to provide better outcomes around re-abuse and reunification. The Iowa Parent Partner Approach celebrates parents who have been in the child welfare system and achieved reunification or resolved issues around termination of parental rights as individuals that have overcome obstacles through change, recovery, and accountability. This approach utilizes their skills, once they are trained as Parent Partners, to mentor families whose children are in foster or kinship care as they navigate through the Department of Human Services (DHS) system. Parent Partners, who are independent contractors of Children & Families of Iowa, receive training on a variety of topics including Domestic Violence, Mandatory Reporting, Boundaries and Safety Issues, Building a Better Future, Substance Abuse, DHS 101, Mental Health Overview, and Confidentiality and Cultural Competency. Once trained, they provide one-on-one mentoring by providing advice, support, and encouragement to families whose children are currently involved with DHS in efforts to enhance their capacity to provide for and guide their children's healthy development. Parent Partners meet with families face-to-face as well as contact by phone. Parent Partners offer to be present as a support at Family Team Decision Making Meetings, staffings, and court appearances. All activities and contacts the Parent Partner has with the family are documented on a monthly activity form.

Parent Partners receive oversight by local Coordinators to discuss ongoing issues and case concerns. Coordinators also offer growth opportunities in professional interaction skills, as this may be a Parent Partner's first professional role. Mental health support sessions are provided to Parent Partners by a licensed master's-level clinician skilled in trauma/attachment and substance abuse. These support sessions are utilized to discuss issues and challenges that result from mentoring parents with similar mental health problems and recovery triggers.

Scientific Rating 3

Multidimensional Family Recovery

Multidimensional Family Recovery (MDFR) is a home- and community-based family intervention that addresses parental substance misuse and child maltreatment. MDFR is designed to help parents involved in the child welfare system achieve and sustain sobriety, provide a safe and healthy family environment for their children, comply with child welfare or court requirements, and prevent further child welfare involvement. MDFR provides certain direct interventions and also facilitates engagement in substance use treatment and other needed service for parents and children. MDFR promotes change in six domains: self of the parent, parenting/co-parenting, children & child safety, family relationships, intimate relationships, and basic needs and resources. Within these domains the MDFR counselors meet (a) alone with the parents, (b) alone with spouses/partners of the parent(s), grandparents, and other family members; and (c) in conjoint sessions with the parent and spouse/partner, co-parent, grandparents, children, and other family members as needed.

Scientific Rating 3

Project Connect

Project Connect works with high-risk families who are affected by parental substance abuse and are involved in the child welfare system. The program offers home-based counseling, substance abuse monitoring, nursing, and referrals for other services. The program also offers home-based parent education, parenting groups, and an ongoing support group for mothers in recovery.

Scientific Rating 3

TASC’s Family Recovery & Reunification Program

The TASC's Family Recovery & Reunification Program (FRRP) seeks to improve the outcomes of substance abusing parents compared to those parents receiving traditional alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) services from child welfare workers through the assignment of a Recovery Coach. Recovery Coaches are responsible for providing individualized case management services and aggressive outreach supportive of client substance abuse recovery and reunification with their children when appropriate.

Scientific Rating 3

The Safe Babies Court Team™

The Safe Babies Court Team™ (SBCT) is a community engagement and systems change initiative focused on improving how the courts, child welfare agencies, and related child-serving organizations work together to improve and expedite services for young children who are under court supervision. The SBCT is designed to:

  • Protect babies from further harm and address the damage already done
  • Expose the structural issues in the child welfare system that prevent families from succeeding

Each SBCT is convened by a judge with jurisdiction over foster care cases and by child welfare agency leaders, and includes other judges, child welfare staff, attorneys, service providers, and community leaders. Once convened, an agency in that area contracts with ZERO TO THREE to hire and supervise a dedicated community coordinator who staffs the SBCT, oversees program implementation, and works collaboratively with the local leaders who make final decisions about what works in their community. Once the SBCT is established, they work with individual families, learning important lessons that are applied to subsequent cases and to updating the policies, regulations, and laws governing child welfare practice, creating the basis for wider practice and systems change.

To facilitate the work of the SBCT, ZERO TO THREE also provides the scientific context, a forum for system reform discussions, and increased national attention on infants and toddlers in foster care.

Scientific Rating 3

LIFE – Live In Family Enhancement

The LIFE (Live In Family Enhancement) program offers a unique alternative to traditional out-of-home care for families involved in the child welfare system. The program provides the opportunity to keep the family together while the children are in care through the placement of the entire family in a supported and supervised setting. The parent(s) and their children live together in a foster home for a period of eight months to a year. During this time, the LIFE Caregiver mentors, guides, supports, and serves as a role model for the LIFE parents. The LIFE Caregiver focuses on building and securing the parents’ attachment to their children, developing routines, building confidence in parenting abilities, and development of both new skills and a new direction for their parenting future.

Scientific Rating NR

Michigan Family Reunification Program

The program is designed to assist in an early return to a permanent family for children in out-of-home foster care placement. In addition, it is designed to reduce repeat placement through a planned process of reunifying children in out-of-home care with their families using a variety of services. It is also designed to provide support in achieving and maintaining permanency in the family home.

Scientific Rating NR

Programs

Homebuilders®

Homebuilders® is a home- and community-based intensive family preservation services treatment program designed to avoid unnecessary placement of children and youth into foster care, group care, psychiatric hospitals, or juvenile justice facilities. The program model engages families by delivering services in their natural environment, at times when they are most receptive to learning, and by enlisting them as partners in assessment, goal setting, and treatment planning. Reunification cases often require case activities related to reintegrating the child into the home and community. Examples include helping the parent find childcare, enrolling the child in school, refurbishing the child’s bedroom, and helping the child connect with clubs, sports or other community groups. Child neglect referrals often require case activities related to improving the physical condition of the home, improving supervision of children, decreasing parental depression and/or alcohol and substance abuse, and helping families access needed community supports.

Scientific Rating 2

On the Way Home

OTWH is a 12–14 month reunification program developed to address the transition needs of middle and high school youths with, or at-risk of, emotional and behavioral disorders who are reintegrating into the home and community school settings following a stay in residential care. The program modifies and integrates three interventions: Check & Connect, Common Sense Parenting, and homework support to address the educational and family-based transition challenges most common for school-aged youths. Services are provided by a trained OTWH Consultant in the family home, school, and community, and primary objectives are to promote youth home stability and prevent school dropout. On average, families engage in 2 hours of direct service hours per week and consultants carry caseloads of up to 15 families. Training is manualized, service decisions are guided by weekly data analysis, and consultants are supervised in weekly individual and group consultation.

Scientific Rating 2

Iowa Parent Partner Approach

Iowa Parent Partner Approach is an approach designed to provide better outcomes around re-abuse and reunification. The Iowa Parent Partner Approach celebrates parents who have been in the child welfare system and achieved reunification or resolved issues around termination of parental rights as individuals that have overcome obstacles through change, recovery, and accountability. This approach utilizes their skills, once they are trained as Parent Partners, to mentor families whose children are in foster or kinship care as they navigate through the Department of Human Services (DHS) system. Parent Partners, who are independent contractors of Children & Families of Iowa, receive training on a variety of topics including Domestic Violence, Mandatory Reporting, Boundaries and Safety Issues, Building a Better Future, Substance Abuse, DHS 101, Mental Health Overview, and Confidentiality and Cultural Competency. Once trained, they provide one-on-one mentoring by providing advice, support, and encouragement to families whose children are currently involved with DHS in efforts to enhance their capacity to provide for and guide their children's healthy development. Parent Partners meet with families face-to-face as well as contact by phone. Parent Partners offer to be present as a support at Family Team Decision Making Meetings, staffings, and court appearances. All activities and contacts the Parent Partner has with the family are documented on a monthly activity form.

Parent Partners receive oversight by local Coordinators to discuss ongoing issues and case concerns. Coordinators also offer growth opportunities in professional interaction skills, as this may be a Parent Partner's first professional role. Mental health support sessions are provided to Parent Partners by a licensed master's-level clinician skilled in trauma/attachment and substance abuse. These support sessions are utilized to discuss issues and challenges that result from mentoring parents with similar mental health problems and recovery triggers.

Scientific Rating 3

Multidimensional Family Recovery

Multidimensional Family Recovery (MDFR) is a home- and community-based family intervention that addresses parental substance misuse and child maltreatment. MDFR is designed to help parents involved in the child welfare system achieve and sustain sobriety, provide a safe and healthy family environment for their children, comply with child welfare or court requirements, and prevent further child welfare involvement. MDFR provides certain direct interventions and also facilitates engagement in substance use treatment and other needed service for parents and children. MDFR promotes change in six domains: self of the parent, parenting/co-parenting, children & child safety, family relationships, intimate relationships, and basic needs and resources. Within these domains the MDFR counselors meet (a) alone with the parents, (b) alone with spouses/partners of the parent(s), grandparents, and other family members; and (c) in conjoint sessions with the parent and spouse/partner, co-parent, grandparents, children, and other family members as needed.

Scientific Rating 3

Project Connect

Project Connect works with high-risk families who are affected by parental substance abuse and are involved in the child welfare system. The program offers home-based counseling, substance abuse monitoring, nursing, and referrals for other services. The program also offers home-based parent education, parenting groups, and an ongoing support group for mothers in recovery.

Scientific Rating 3

TASC’s Family Recovery & Reunification Program

The TASC's Family Recovery & Reunification Program (FRRP) seeks to improve the outcomes of substance abusing parents compared to those parents receiving traditional alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) services from child welfare workers through the assignment of a Recovery Coach. Recovery Coaches are responsible for providing individualized case management services and aggressive outreach supportive of client substance abuse recovery and reunification with their children when appropriate.

Scientific Rating 3

The Safe Babies Court Team™

The Safe Babies Court Team™ (SBCT) is a community engagement and systems change initiative focused on improving how the courts, child welfare agencies, and related child-serving organizations work together to improve and expedite services for young children who are under court supervision. The SBCT is designed to:

  • Protect babies from further harm and address the damage already done
  • Expose the structural issues in the child welfare system that prevent families from succeeding

Each SBCT is convened by a judge with jurisdiction over foster care cases and by child welfare agency leaders, and includes other judges, child welfare staff, attorneys, service providers, and community leaders. Once convened, an agency in that area contracts with ZERO TO THREE to hire and supervise a dedicated community coordinator who staffs the SBCT, oversees program implementation, and works collaboratively with the local leaders who make final decisions about what works in their community. Once the SBCT is established, they work with individual families, learning important lessons that are applied to subsequent cases and to updating the policies, regulations, and laws governing child welfare practice, creating the basis for wider practice and systems change.

To facilitate the work of the SBCT, ZERO TO THREE also provides the scientific context, a forum for system reform discussions, and increased national attention on infants and toddlers in foster care.

Scientific Rating 3

LIFE – Live In Family Enhancement

The LIFE (Live In Family Enhancement) program offers a unique alternative to traditional out-of-home care for families involved in the child welfare system. The program provides the opportunity to keep the family together while the children are in care through the placement of the entire family in a supported and supervised setting. The parent(s) and their children live together in a foster home for a period of eight months to a year. During this time, the LIFE Caregiver mentors, guides, supports, and serves as a role model for the LIFE parents. The LIFE Caregiver focuses on building and securing the parents’ attachment to their children, developing routines, building confidence in parenting abilities, and development of both new skills and a new direction for their parenting future.

Scientific Rating NR

Michigan Family Reunification Program

The program is designed to assist in an early return to a permanent family for children in out-of-home foster care placement. In addition, it is designed to reduce repeat placement through a planned process of reunifying children in out-of-home care with their families using a variety of services. It is also designed to provide support in achieving and maintaining permanency in the family home.

Scientific Rating NR