Families Together - Detailed Report

Scientific Rating:

Lacks Adequate Research Evidence
See scale of 1-6

Scientific Rating:

4 - Lacks Adequate Research Evidence

On a scale of 1-6

Relevance to Child Welfare Rating:

High
See scale of 1-3

Relevance to Child Welfare Rating:

1 - High

On a scale of 1-3

Type of Maltreatment: Emotional abuse, Exposure to domestic violence, Physical abuse, Physical neglect, and Sexual abuse

Target Population: Families separated by court order and involved in the state’s child welfare system.

Brief Description:

Families Together has been rated by the CEBC in the area of Child Welfare Visitation. Families Together, a program of Providence Children’s Museum (PCM), was created in 1992 in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). The program provides therapeutic visits for children aged 1 to 11 throughout Rhode Island with their parents. These families must have been separated by court order due to abuse or neglect and referred to the program by their DCYF caseworker. These participant families consist of children and their parent or parents, and in some cases extended family members. The family makes a series of visits to the museum, where, under the guidance of the program’s family therapists, they play and learn together. The families visit PCM weekly or bi-weekly for 3 to 6 months; some continue for as long as a year. Families Together program assistants provide transportation. Guided by one of the family therapists, families engage in healthy play activities and communication necessary for successful reunification. Visiting in this environment gives parents hands-on experience and immediate feedback as they master parenting skills.

Please fill out this form to send us feedback on the rating of Families Together. Starred fields are required.

Provisional feedback form not available in printout. Please access the website to use the form.

Essential Components

Show Essential Components

Referral and behind the scenes process:

Visiting families must be involved with the state’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and separated from one another due to court order after a finding of abuse or neglect is determined.
Cases referred to Families Together go through a screening process conducted by a clinical consultant.
Families Together therapists work closely with the DCYF caseworkers and the other members of the treatment team to ensure that the family is well-informed, supported, and aware of the their progress and challenges.
Families Together clinical consultants are available on a daily basis to caseworkers and supervisors at all regional DCYF offices to assist workers in documenting visits and developing effective visiting plans and strategies for successful visits.
Clinical consultants also meet with families and DCYF staff members, observe and participate in visits at the regional offices and in the community, and screen referrals to the Families Together visiting program.
Families Together program assistants help with transportation and office work.

Visitation at the Children’s Museum:

Visitation takes place in the Children’s Museum when the Museum is open to the public.
Once accepted into the program, families are assigned a therapist who helps the parent(s) define their goals for program participation. These goals are reviewed every sixth visit (with a maximum of 18 visits routinely offered to families).
Family clinicians mentor and coach parent(s) during each visit, offering immediate feedback and suggestions to help families reach their stated goals. Their role is to promote healthy relationship development, assess parenting strengths and challenges, offer strategies to assist the parent(s), and make recommendations to the DCYF caseworker and the Family Court about the family’s skills which will help them make the best permanency decision for the family.
Play is a central part of Families Together’s visitation work.
In many situations, the Families Together family therapists are the only providers that see the entire family together for an extended period of time.

Visitation training programs:

Families Together has a training partnership with the Rhode Island Child Welfare Institute at Rhode Island College (the training arm of the DCYF). Families Together provides a training for all new DCYF caseworkers on visitation and a three-day training on best practice in visitation, and participates in the “Where’s Daddy?” training by providing training on visitation within it.

Group Format

Families Together was not designed to be conducted in a group.

Families Together has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended Parameters

Recommended intensity: Weekly or bi-weekly visits at the museum. The maximum length of a visit is two hours.

Recommended duration: Eighteen visits, but in special circumstances, the number of visits can be extended. Most families in the program initially visit one another for one hour; the length of their visit time can be increased as the parents are able to take on more responsibility.

Homework

Families Together does not include a homework component.

Delivery Setting

Families Together is typically conducted in: Not specified.

Parent Component

Families Together was designed with a Parent Component.

Families Together addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Neglect or abuse of their children with problems concerning mental illness, substance abuse addiction, domestic violence, poverty, cognitive limitations, lack of literacy skills, and histories of child welfare involvement.

Child Component

Families Together was designed with a Child Component.

Families Together addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Previous abuse or neglect by parents, aggressive behaviors, mental health challenges, developmental delays, medical problems (i.e., failure to thrive), attachment difficulties.

Age range(s): 0-17

Families Together was developed for children with developmental delays.

Families Together has not been tested for children with developmental delays.

Racial/Ethnic Diversity

Families Together was not designed for specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.

Families Together was not tested in specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.

Education and Training Resources

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program.

There is training available for Families Together.

Training contact: Tonya Glantz, MSW, Clinical Training Specialist at the Child Welfare Institute at Rhode Island College, 600 Mount Pleasant Ave., Providence, RI 02908 and Cheryl Lepre, MA, Clinical Consultant, Families Together, Providence Children’s Museum, 100 South St., Providence, RI 02903.

Number of days/hours: Vary depending on training focus - anywhere from two hours to three days

Training is obtained: Provided at the Providence Children's Museum and at Rhode Island College.

There currently are not additional qualified resources for training.

Identified Resources Necessary to Implement Program

The typical resources for implementing Families Together are: The Museum, including its exhibits, programs, and staff (including creative designers that help create materials for participants). Visits take place when the Museum is open to the public, program participants and general visitors are visiting Museum at the same time. The Museum Board of Directors fully supports this program.

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) staff are also a resource for this program, in addition to the many programs and agencies they financially support that also serve the families during their time of separation.

Minimum Provider Qualifications

Therapists require a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a human service related field.

Clinical consultants are required to have a Master’s degree in social work or a related field.

Transport assistants are required to have experience or education in the field of child development, social work, or family studies to work in our program.

All staff must have knowledge of mental illness/mental health challenges, domestic violence, substance abuse, child development, developmental disabilities, and state child welfare practices and policies.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

There are currently no published research studies on Families Together.

References

Show References

Mallon, G. P., & McCartt Hess, P. (2005). "Families Together” child welfare for the 21st century: A handbook of practices, policies, and programs. New York: Columbia University Press.

Brinig,H. & O’Donnell, J. (1999). The children’s museum: An oasis for troubled families. Hand to Hand (Quarterly journal of the Association of Children’s Museums), 13(1): 1-2, 7.

Cavallaro, P. (2000). Implementing the Adoption and Safe Families Act (part 2), States at Work (publication of the American Public Human Services Association), June issue.

Contact Information

Contact name: Heidi Brinig, MA

Affiliation/Agency: Families Together at Providence Children’s Museum

Email: brinig@childrenmuseum.org

Phone: 401-273-5437, ext. 131

Fax: 401-273-1004

Website: http://www.childrenmuseum.org/htdocs/familiestogether.html

Date reviewed: October 2007