Module 4: Overview

MODULE 4: The Basics for Engaging Families

 

Overview:
  • To ensure that each youth and their family receives the individualized and culturally relevant treatment and supports they need that will result in successful reunification post residential discharge, the work of residential interventions has moved beyond the walls of the residential program to supporting families at home and in their communities throughout the residential intervention.
  • Clinical and support services take place in the home and in the program. In-home services ideally take place as often as necessary ⎯ at minimum, several times a week, based on the family’s needs and goals ⎯ beginning prior to admission. Some programs have moved to daily support of families in their homes and communities during the early parts of the residential intervention and again when the aftercare component of the residential intervention begins.
  • Organizations that build a mission around successful family engagement and permanency can facilitate effective work with families in their homes and communities by hiring staff, including Family/Parent Partners, who reflect the ethnicities of and speak the languages of the families served and are skilled at family engagement. It is critical that staff of all disciplines share in the commitment to providing support within homes and communities. This ensures that staff have an increased understanding of each family member’s individual strengths and needs so they can offer skill building that will be effective for the family. This also promotes a partnership between the family and the staff in identifying, putting in place and/or strengthening a full range of community services and supports that will lead to long-term successful reunification.
  • Programs work to develop a range of promising and/or best practices (that are culturally relevant for the families they serve) for successfully engaging and working with families in their homes and communities. Some programs adopt a specific promising and/or best practice, or an evidence-based model (e.g., multi-systemic therapy, systemic family therapy; motivational interviewing, functional family therapy) that has been successfully used for the different ethnicities of the families they serve. Other programs study the literature and learn from other successful programs, developing a range of culturally appropriate practices, staff skills, and supports that meet the needs of the individual families they serve.
Module 4 The Basics for Engaging Families Resources

BBI RESOURCES:

A Building Bridges Initiative Guide: Implementing Effective Short-Term Residential Interventions. (2017, July). Building Bridges Initiative.

Building Bridges Initiative Informational Document: Permanency Practices Collaboration Strategies for Child Welfare and Residential Programs. (2019, Fall). Building Bridges Initiative.

A Building Bridges Initiative Tip Sheet: Supporting Siblings When a Brother or Sister is Receiving Residential Interventions: Key Issues and Tips for Providers and Families. (2014). Building Bridges Initiative.

Building Bridges Self-Assessment Tool [Also Available in Spanish]. (2020, September). Building Bridges Initiative.

Engage Us: A Guide Written by Families for Residential Providers. (2012, April). Building Bridges Initiative.

Family Tip Sheet (Expanded Version): Tip Sheet for Families Considering a Residential Program: Information for Families and Caregivers. [Also available in Spanish.] (Not dated). Building Bridges Initiative.

Hust, J., Kuppinger, A. (2014). Moving toward family-driven care in residential. In G.M. Blau, B. Caldwell, & R.E. Lieberman (Eds.), Residential Interventions for Children, Adolescents, and Families: A Best Practice Guide (pp. 15–33). Routledge.

Kuppinger, A., Hust, J.A., Hunt, P. Mosby, P., Hammack, S., & Caldwell, B. (2020). Putting families first: Strategies to transform and advance family engagement and partnership. In B. Caldwell, R. Lieberman, J. LeBel, & G. M. Blau (Eds.), Transforming Residential Interventions: Practical Strategies and Future Directions (pp. 8–30). Routledge.

Sexton, T.L., Rios, O.G., Johnson, K.A., & Plante, B.R. (2014). Clinical strategies for engaging families. In G.M. Blau, B. Caldwell, & R.E. Lieberman (Eds.), Residential Interventions for Children, Adolescents, and Families: A Best Practice Guide (pp. 34–45). Routledge.

A Tip Sheet for Families Considering a Residential Program [Brief Version, also available in Spanish.] (Not dated). Building Bridges Initiative.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Examples of Clinical Practice Models to Engage Families as cited by Kuppinger et al., 2020:

ACRC Redefining Residential Position Papers: Becoming Family-driven (2006)

https://togetherthevoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Paper-2.pdf

Module 4

Thanks!

Become an ACRC Member today!

Join Now