Functional Family Therapy – Therapeutic Case Management

Functional Family Therapy – Therapeutic Case Management (FFT-TCM) is an adaptation of Functional Family Therapy (FFT) designed to serve at-risk families with children age 18 or younger involved in the child welfare, behavioral and physical health, academic, or juvenile justice systems. FFT-TCM uses a therapeutic case management approach with the aim of helping families engage in treatment, develop skills and access resources needed to stabilize and work through family issues, and manage future challenges.  

The program can be delivered either as a high-risk intervention only or as a two-track intervention, with families assigned to a low- or high-risk intervention track based on an initial assessment. The high-risk intervention integrates therapeutic case management services into a developmentally adapted FFT intervention. The high-risk intervention has five phases and is delivered by a clinical therapist and a case manager (with therapists having the ability to serve as the case manager as well). The first three phases focus on increasing engagement, building motivation for change, and understanding relational patterns. The next phase focuses on behavior change and identifying and addressing specific family needs. The final phase helps families generalize these behavior changes to their everyday life and to contexts outside the immediate family. For families with younger children, program content focuses on safety, child development needs, and parenting education; for those with adolescents, program content focuses on building family alliance and skills to address problem behaviors. Case management services are integrated into each phase of treatment to reinforce therapeutic activities and help families access needed resources.  

In the two-track intervention, families assessed as high-risk receive the services described above, while families assessed as low-risk receive a comprehensive three-phase case management intervention from trained “interventionists” (i.e., case managers). In the first phase, interventionists focus on increasing family engagement with the program and increasing families’ motivation for change. In the next “support and connect” phase, interventionists provide support to families, connect them with community programs and resources, and monitor progress. In the final phase, interventionists help families generalize changes to their everyday life and to contexts outside the immediate family.

FFT-TCM does not currently meet criteria to receive a rating because no studies met eligibility criteria for review.

Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed: Sep 2022

Sources

The program or service description, target population, and program or service delivery and implementation information were informed by the following sources: the program or service manual and the program or service developer’s website. 

This information does not necessarily represent the views of the program or service developers. For more information on how this program or service was reviewed, visit the Review Process page or download the Handbook.