Family Connections is a multifaceted, community-based program. It works with families in their homes and in the context of their neighbourhoods to help them meet the basic needs of their children and reduce the risk of child neglect.
Nine practice principles guide Family Connections:
Family Connections was designed for families in a neighbourhood with extreme poverty, unemployment and general economic distress. The program targeted families with at least one child between the ages of 5 and 11.
Families were eligible for the program if:
Family Connections has only been evaluated in the USA (DePanfilis & Dubowitz, 2005).
A randomised control trial was conducted with 125 caregivers and 473 children. On average, caregivers were 37 years old and children were 8 years old. The majority of parents (86%) and children (85%) were African American. Families were excluded from the program if they were involved with child protection services at the time of referral, although there could have been prior involvement with the agency.
The program has not been evaluated in Australia or with Aboriginal Australians.
Overall, the program had a mixed effect on client outcomes.
Mixed research evidence (with no adverse effects):
Family Connections is a home visitation program.
Direct services are provided to families for a minimum of 1-hour per week. Families participate in the program for 9 months.
The core components of Family Connections include:
Not reported.
Most services were provided by graduate social work interns supervised by a faculty member. Interns received at least weekly individual supervision and weekly clinical seminars. Supervisory consultation was also available on daily basis if needed. Especially at the beginning of the academic year, supervisors made home visits with interns and modeled intervention methods.
1 RCT conducted in the USA with a sample of 125 people (DePanfilis & Dubowitz, 2005).
16 Feb 2023
We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Nations Peoples of NSW and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future.
Informed by lessons of the past, Department of Communities and Justice is improving how we work with Aboriginal people and communities. We listen and learn from the knowledge, strength and resilience of Stolen Generations Survivors, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal communities.
You can access our apology to the Stolen Generations.