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Functional Family Therapy—Child Welfare (FFT-CW)

Child Welfare
  Literature review updated September 2017.

Functional Family Therapy—Child Welfare (FFT-CW) is a modification of FFT that has been used with youth involved in the criminal justice system. FFT-CW has two tracks, one for lower-risk families (FFT-LR) and another for higher-risk families (FFT-HR). The FFT-LR program is implemented in three distinct phases: Engagement/Motivation, Support/Monitor, and Generalization. The FFT-HR model, based on the original FFT, is more intensive and includes five phases. In the single study included here families received one or the other track, but it is unclear what percentage of the treatment group was assigned to either track. In the study, those in the comparison group received various other services.
 
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META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Child abuse and neglect
Substantiated or founded reports to child protective services.
 9 1 1625 0.000 0.043 10 0.000 1.000
Out-of-home placement
The removal of a child from parental care, most often to foster care.
 9 1 1625 0.188 0.179 10 0.188 0.294

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Turner, C.W., Robbins, M.S., Rowlands, S., & Weaver, L.R. (2017). Summary of comparison between FFT-CW® and usual care sample from Administration for Children's Services. Child Abuse & Neglect, 69, 85-95.