THE PARTNERSHIPS FOR FAMILIES (PFF) INITIATIVE Comprehensive Evaluation: Final Report Submitted to: First 5 Los Angeles Prepared By: Devon Brooks, Principal Investigator Heather Cohen, Project Manager Ashley Sessoms, Project Coordinator Steven Felix, Research Associate Stephen Budde, Co-Investigator Hansung Kim, Investigator Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Investigator November 30, 2011 i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The PFF Comprehensive Evaluation Team has many people to thank for making this evaluation possible. Several key partners contributed significantly to the evaluation, thereby enhancing its quality, rigor, and relevance. First, we thank our First 5 LA evaluation liaison Sharon Murphy for her contributions to the PFF evaluation framework, plans, and goals. Our team is immensely grateful for her leadership, thoughtfulness, and commitment to the evaluation. We also greatly appreciate her calmness and patience. We are indebted to the SPA leads for providing insight into their programs during our on-site visits. We are especially grateful to Katherine Reuter, Meridith Merchant, Pauline Tan, Alex Morales, and Jennifer Ralls—all of whom played an indispensable role in helping us to validate, understand and interpret data and results. SPA leads also provided critical contact information for former PFF participants, which facilitated Evaluation Team interviews for the last and final sub-study on Long-Term Outcomes and Family Perspectives. For her perspective, cheerful optimism and stewardship, we offer Aja Howell deep-felt appreciation and thanks. We are also appreciative of those who facilitated our data acquisition. We thank Jeannine Schumm of AJWI for her technical support and prompt responses to all of our inquiries and requests regarding family functioning data. We would like to DCFS staff and administrators, particularly Cecilia Custodio and Rae Hahn who went above and beyond in helping us obtain essential data for our evaluation. For opening their homes and lives to us, we cannot thank enough the PFF families we met. Rest assured that we will use the results of our evaluation to help improve the programs that serve families like yours. Finally, we would like to thank the case workers who strive to provide safety to vulnerable children and their families each and every day. Those tireless and courageous women and men who risk life and limb by entering unfamiliar domiciles to protect the innocent truly know the meaning of public service. It is because of your commitment, competence, and vigilance that progress in preventing child maltreatment is made. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................ i List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... vii Sub-study 1 – Engaging Culturally-Diverse, At-Risk Families in Voluntary, Home-Based Child Maltreatment Prevention Services ................................................................................. vii Sub-study 2 – Change in Family Functioning and Re-referral Risk among Families Participating in the Parterships for Families (PFF) Initiative .................................................... x Sub-study 3 – Re-referral, Maltreatment & Permanency amongst At-Risk Families with Young Children: Longitidinal Results from the Partnerships for Families (PFF) Initiative..... xi Summary of Major Findings from Sub-studies 1-3 ................................................................ xiv Section I. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Comprehensive Evaluation of PFF (2010-2011) ....................................................................... 1 Summary of the major Findings from the Initial Evaluation of PFF ......................................... 4 Section II. The Partnerships for Families (PFF) Initiative .............................................................. 6 About First 5 LA ........................................................................................................................ 6 Partnerships for Families (PFF) – History and Mission ............................................................ 6 The PFF Logic Model ................................................................................................................ 6 Implementation of PFF .............................................................................................................. 7 The PFF Target Population ........................................................................................................ 8 The Referral Process to PFF ...................................................................................................... 9 PFF Consent and Enrollment ..................................................................................................... 9 PFF Service Providers .............................................................................................................. 10 The PFF Service Approach ...................................................................................................... 13 Section III. Sub-study 1 - Engagement ......................................................................................... 14 Analyses ................................................................................................................................... 18 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 18 Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 41 Section IV. Sub-study 2 - Strengthening Families........................................................................ 50 Analyses ................................................................................................................................... 59 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 60 Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 86 iii Section V. Sub-study 3 - Re-referral, Maltreatment & Permanency ............................................ 90 Analyses ................................................................................................................................... 93 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 94 Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 105 Section VI. Closing ..................................................................................................................... 108 Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 108 Implications ............................................................................................................................ 110 References ................................................................................................................................... 114 Appendix A. Family Assessment Form (FAF) ........................................................................... 131 Appendix B. PFF Sample Descriptives ...................................................................................... 159 Appendix C. Initial Engagement Descriptives ............................................................................ 169 Appendix D. Subsequent Engagement Descriptives .................................................................. 172 Appendix E. Termination Reason Descriptives .......................................................................... 174 Appendix F. Frequency of Service, Bivariate and Multivariate Models .................................... 176 Appendix G. Subsequent Engagement, Bivariate and Multivariate Models .............................. 178 Appendix H. Case Closure Model, Bivariate and Multivariate Models ..................................... 180 Appendix I. SPA Variation in Subsequent Engagement ............................................................ 182 Appendix J. Percentage of Families with Functioning that Improved, Stayed the Same, or Worsened Between the Initial and Termination Assessment ..................................................... 209 Appendix K. Percentage of Families with Adequate versus Problem Functioning at Closing .. 210 Appendix L. Percentage of Families with Adequate versus Problem Functioning at Closing by Level of Engagement .................................................................................................................. 211 Appendix M. Percentage of All Families with Problem Functioning at the Initial assessment vs. Termination Assessment ............................................................................................................