Research

Recent research about Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS) is very supportive of this type of intervention. Dr. Ray Kirk from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill conducted a retrospective study (NC DSS, 2001) of more than 1,200 children who had received IFPS services in North Carolina and compared them with over 110,000 children who had not received these services. IFPS outperformed traditional child welfare services in every case by reducing the number of placements or delaying placements. IFPS interventions improved family functioning and were most effective with the highest risk families.

Blythe and Jayanarte (2002) conducted research in Michigan that randomly assigned high-risk families to either IFPS or traditional child welfare services including foster care. At 6 months after IFPS, 88% of children were living at home compared to only 17% in the non-IFPS group. At 12 months, 93% of IFPS children were at home compared to 43% of non-IFPS children.