National Study of Family Treatment Court Best Practices, Outcomes, and Costs, [United States], 1993-2022 (ICPSR 39246)

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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The National Study of Family Treatment Court Best Practices, Outcomes, and Costs (also known as the National Study of Family Treatment Courts (NEFTC)) sought to study the extent to which family treatment courts (FTC) follow best practices, who benefits from FTCs, how much FTCs meet the needs of the communities they serve, and the cost-efficiencies of these programs. The NEFTC includes two study components: the Best Practice Study (BPS) and Outcome and Cost Study (OCS).

The BPS sought to answer the following questions and sub questions:

1. What is the scope and scale of FTCs across the country?

What are the characteristics of families who participate in FTCs?

What are the range of eligibility criteria and how much are validated risk and needs assessment tools used to determine eligibility (and determine service needs)?

How does scope and scale of FTCs relate to the number of families who could be eligible for and benefit from FTCs?

2. What practices are FTCs implementing across the country?

To what extent are FTCs implementing the FTC Best Practice Standards and other promising practices?

3. How are FTCs addressing the opioid crisis?

To what extent are programs prioritizing those with opioid use disorders?

To what extent are FTCs providing or allowing medication for addiction treatment for opiate and other drug disorders?

The OCS sought to answer the following questions and sub questions:

1. What are the outcomes and costs associated with the implementation of FTCs?

What are the outcomes associated with participation in FTCs with regard to:

i. Reduced allegations of neglect and abuse?

ii. Reduced time of children in out of home placement?

iii. Increased reunification?

How much do the FTC programs cost per participant?

What are the costs associated with foster care outcomes for FTC program participants?

Study Design View help for Study Design

For the BPS, research staff requested lists of FTCs from organizations who frequently work with FTCs. A total of 343 FTCs were confirmed as currently active as of February 2020. Statewide treatment court coordinators, or their equivalents, emailed an introductory message to all FTCs in their state or jurisdiction on behalf of the study. Each court was sent information about the study with a link to complete the Best Practice Assessment. Researchers also included a frequently asked questions document along with a helpline phone number and dedicated email address with the initial email and promised individualized best practice reports as an incentive to complete the assessment. Completed assessments came from FTCs in 42 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.

After the BPS, researchers reviewed assessment results and selected a subset of 20 FTCs to conduct follow up interviews related to their data collection practices, availability of data, and willingness to participate in the OCS. Ultimately, five FTCs had both the necessary data available and agreed to participate in the OCS. They were also selected to participate based on adherence to best practices and diverse geographic locations. As the OCS began, only four FTCs had local child welfare agencies with the capacity to provide the data extract required to participate. These sites were located in California, Georgia, New York, and Texas.

The OCS followed a quasi-experimental design with a contemporary comparison group. The OCS assessed repeat child maltreatment episodes (i.e., child physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect), child removals from the home, the amount of time spent in out-of-home care, and reunifications with parents for a sample of FTC participants and a matched comparison group at each site. The study samples included all FTC participants who entered the four programs since the implementation of electronic data collection systems at each site and could be tracked for at least three years after entry--regardless of final program status--along with a comparison group of similar individuals who had similar child welfare events but experienced traditional dependency court proceedings for child welfare cases. The comparison groups were matched to the participants at each site through propensity score weighting and/or matching techniques. Precise propensity score adjustment strategies varied by site, given relative sample size in program and comparison groups and other technical considerations. Based on data availability, program and comparison participants were tracked through existing administrative databases for a period of three years following the FTC eligibility event. The evaluation team used FTC program datasets from each site and corresponding child welfare datasets from the FTC state or county (depending on availability) to determine whether the program sample and comparison groups differed in repeat child maltreatment events, child removals, removal characteristics, and reunifications with parents over time.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

FTCs from the United States and FTC participants from California, Georgia, New York, and Texas.

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Data Source View help for Data Source

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

One hundred and eight-two assessments out of 343 were completed for the BPS for a 53% response rate.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2025-07-28

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