Quality Results

More research is needed to inform data-driven decision making to enhance the Family Resource Center (FRC) model. This includes having a better understanding of Casey Family Programs supported research measuring the impact of FRCs on their surrounding communities:

Casey Family Programs is a national operating foundation focused on child welfare and foster care and a long-time partner of SSA. Casey Family Programs approached FaCT in 2018 to partner on an innovative evaluation project to measure the preventative impacts of their FRCs. The project compares child abuse report rates for areas served by FaCT with demographically and socioeconomically similar areas that do not have FRCs. Results are expected in late 2019 and will be shared widely.

—FaCT 2018-2019 Annual Report

Greater investments in rigorous evaluation studies are needed. While a couple of formal evaluations of FRCs document their role in child maltreatment prevention, existing research does not provide a comprehensive picture of successful FRC program models, service delivery approaches, and return on investments, such as maltreatment and placement prevention. This makes it difficult to assess the utility of FRCs in general, as well as their specific role in preventing harm to children and family disruption. In order to better understand the current research findings as well as determine the capability of FRCs to help prevent child abuse and neglect, further research is needed to understand what makes FRCs successful, what services work best for what populations, and what are the pathways through which FRCs drastically reduce the risk of child maltreatment and entry into foster care.

—Casey Family Programs