Compares ten family preservation programs, with varying approaches and intensity levels, in order to provide impartial information on the available tools for case workers and social services administrators. For each program a brief description is provided as well as key elements and evidence of success if it has been tested or evaluated by external agencies. The Homebuilders program supplies intensive, in-home crisis intervention, counseling, and life-skills education to avoid child placement in state care. The Wraparound program uses a team-based planning model to individualize and coordinate care of at-risk children and those with mental health challenges. Project Connect works with families facing substance abuse problems. Shared Family Care places a parent and young children in the home of a mentor family to teach skills and develop needed support structures. Healthy Families New York provides intensive home visitation services for expectant and new parents (less than three months), Project SafeCare is a six-month in-home parenting program to assist parents with child safety, health care, and behavior management. Functional Family Therapy focuses on adolescent youth (age 10-18) with conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, or substance abuse issues. Project STAR attempts to provide resources to keep babies safely with birth families. Project First Step – Doula Care promotes child health and safety using trained volunteers to strategize resources needed to assist at-risk families. Crisis Nursery Care provides a safe haven for children to relieve a potential or existing family crisis.
