Indiana Family Preservation Services
Indiana Family Preservation Services (INFPS) is an in-home service program that aims to keep children with their caregiver after they have become involved in the child welfare system. INFPS is designed for families with a substantiated case of abuse or neglect where the child welfare agency deems that the child can safely remain in the home with the assistance of appropriate services. The program seeks to provide families with a single point of contact for all their needs by assigning each family a specific INFPS provider who will deliver services to the entire family. The goals of INFPS are to: (1) preserve the family while ensuring children’s safety, (2) put protective factors in place to help keep children safe, (3) provide concrete assistance (e.g., housing or food support) to keep children in the home, and (4) ensure that children are safe during and after services.
The INFPS provider first meets with the family and submits an initial assessment and safety plan and then works with the family to create a treatment plan. The INFPS provider then reviews a list of mental health and parenting skills interventions and selects and implements at least one intervention that is aligned with the family’s needs.
Additionally, INFPS providers monitor and promote children’s safety by helping families to develop protective factors and meet their concrete needs. The INFPS provider visits the family at least once a week to assess the home for safety. Every three months the INFPS provider administers a survey to measure the families’ protective factors including parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, and child social and emotional competence. INFPS providers also complete a budget with the family, assist the family with applications for needed services, and help the family address any concrete assistance needs such as food, clothing, rent, or utilities.
INFPS does not currently meet criteria to receive a rating because no studies of the program that achieved a rating of moderate or high on design and execution demonstrated a favorable effect on a target outcome.
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed: Sep 2024
Sources
The following sources informed the program or service description, target population, and program or service delivery and implementation information: the program or service manual, the program or service developer’s website, and the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare.
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 download the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Version 1.0
Target Population
INFPS is designed for families who have a substantiated case of abuse or neglect where the child welfare agency deems that the children can safely remain in the home with the assistance of appropriate services.
Dosage
The length of treatment depends on the family’s individual needs and ends when either the case is closed or there is a decision to remove the children from the home. INFPS providers visit families at least once per week and must be available for safety planning and crisis response 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The average length of treatment is 6 months. INFPS providers should not have a caseload of more than 12 families.
Location/Delivery Setting
Recommended Locations/Delivery Settings
INFPS providers deliver INFPS in the home. If the intervention requires the use of another setting such as an office or school, that setting may be used in addition to the home.
Education, Certifications and Training
INFPS providers should be credentialed in the intervention they deliver and should participate in general training covering topics such as abuse, neglect, and hotline reporting; legal and testifying; trauma informed practice; family engagement; and parent education. Additionally, INFPS providers receive at least one hour of supervision twice a month. At least one of these supervision meetings must be one-on-one, while other supervision can be in a group format. INFPS supervisors must have a master’s or doctorate degree in social work, psychology, marriage and family, or a related human service field and must have a current license.
Program or Service Documentation
Book/Manual/Available documentation used for review
Indiana Department of Child Services. (n.d.). Service standard: Indiana Department of Child Services Family Preservation Services (per diem model). Retrieved March 25, 2024, from https://www.in.gov/dcs/files/Family-Preservation-UPDATE.pdf
Available languages
The INFPS manual is available in English.
Other supporting materials
For More Information
Website: https://www.in.gov/dcs/family-first-act/family-preservation-services/
Phone: (317) 232-4497
Email: ChildWelfarePlan@dcs.in.gov
Note: The details on Dosage; Location; Education, Certifications, and Training; Other Supporting Materials; and For More Information sections above are provided to website users for informational purposes only. This information is not exhaustive and may be subject to change.
| Results of Search and Review | Number of Studies Identified and Reviewed for Indiana Family Preservation Services |
|---|---|
| Identified in Search | 1 |
| Eligible for Review | 1 |
| Rated High | 0 |
| Rated Moderate | 1 |
| Rated Low | 0 |
| Reviewed Only for Risk of Harm | 0 |
| Outcome | Effect Size
 and Implied Percentile Effect
|
N of Studies (Findings) | N of Participants | Summary of Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child safety: Child welfare administrative reports |
0.02
0 |
1 (1) | 2800 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 1 Unfavorable: 0 |
| Child permanency: Out-of-home placement |
0.00
0 |
1 (1) | 2800 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 1 Unfavorable: 0 |
Note: For the effect sizes and implied percentile effects reported in the table, a positive number favors the intervention group and a negative number favors the comparison group.
| Outcome | Effect Size
and Implied Percentile Effect
|
N of Studies (Findings) | N of Participants | Summary of Findings |
Months after treatment when outcome measured
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child safety: Child welfare administrative reports |
0.02
0 |
1 (1) | 2800 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 1 Unfavorable: 0 |
- |
| Study 15149 - INFPS vs. Treatment As Usual (Goodwin, 2023) | |||||
| Repeat Maltreatment |
0.02
0 |
- | 2800 | - | 0 |
| Child permanency: Out-of-home placement |
0.00
0 |
1 (1) | 2800 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 1 Unfavorable: 0 |
- |
| Study 15149 - INFPS vs. Treatment As Usual (Goodwin, 2023) | |||||
| Child Removed from Home |
0.00
0 |
- | 2800 | - | 0 |
*p <.05
Note: For the effect sizes and implied percentile effects reported in the table, a positive number favors the intervention group and a negative number favors the comparison group. Effect sizes and implied percentile effects were calculated by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse as described in the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Section 5.10.4 and may not align with effect sizes reported in individual publications.
Only publications with eligible contrasts that met design and execution standards are included in the individual study findings table.
Full citations for the studies shown in the table are available in the "Studies Reviewed" section.
The participant characteristics display is an initial version. We encourage those interested in providing feedback to send suggestions to preventionservices@abtglobal.com.
The table below displays locations, the year, and participant demographics for studies that received moderate or high ratings on design and execution and that reported the information. Participant characteristics for studies with more than one intervention versus comparison group pair that received moderate or high ratings are shown separately in the table. Please note, the information presented here uses terminology directly from the study documents, when available. Studies that received moderate or high ratings on design and execution that did not include relevant participant demographic information would not be represented in this table.
For more information on how Clearinghouse reviewers record the information in the table, please see our Resource Guide on Study Participant Characteristics and Settings.
| Characteristics of the Participants in the Studies with Moderate or High Ratings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Study Location
|
Study Year
|
Age or Grade-level
|
Race, Ethnicity, Nationality
|
Gender
|
Populations of Interest*
|
Household Socioeconomic Status
|
| Study 15149 - INFPS vs. Treatment As Usual | ||||||
| Characteristics of the Children and Youth | ||||||
| Indiana, USA | 2021 | Age at entry: 40% 0-5 years old, 43% 6-12 years old, 18% 13+ years old |
67% White 14% Black 11% Hispanic / Latino 7% Multiracial 1% Other |
50% Male 50% Female |
100% Children and families involved with the Indiana Department of Child Services who were designated as Child in Need of Services in-home (in-home CHINS) or Informal Adjustments (IA); Case type: 30% CHINS, 70% IA | -- |
| Characteristics of the Adults, Parents, or Caregivers | ||||||
| Indiana, USA | 2021 | Average caregiver age: 34 years | -- | -- | -- | -- |
“--” indicates information not reported in the study.
* The information about disabilities is based on initial coding. For more information on how the Clearinghouse recorded disability information for the initial release, please see our Resource Guide on Study Participant Characteristics and Settings. The Clearinghouse is currently seeking consultation from experts, including those with lived experience, and input from the public to enhance and improve the display.
Note: Citations for the documents associated with each 5-digit study number shown in the table can be found in the “Studies Reviewed” section below. Study settings and participant demographics are recorded for all studies that received moderate or high ratings on design and execution and that reported the information. Studies that did not report any information about setting or participant demographics are not displayed. For more information on how participant characteristics are recorded, please see our Resource Guide on Study Participant Characteristics and Settings.
Studies Rated Moderate
Study 15149Goodwin, B., Kearney, A., Wilson, E.S., Sorrentino, C., Dir, A.L., Reed, D., Hollabaugh, A., Kestian, H.H., Hendley, H., Stigdon, T.J., & Wiehe, S.E. (2023). Proving promise and support: Preliminary evaluation of the Indiana Family Preservation Services. Child Abuse & Neglect, 140, Article 106136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106136
Wilson, E.S., Goodwin, B., Hendley, H., Reed, D., Whitis, C., Rose, T., Lemons, M., Kearney, A., Hollabaugh, A., & Kestian, H.H. (2020). Right family, right time, right services: Evaluation of Indiana DCS Family Preservation Services program: An evaluation submitted to ACF-Children's Bureau. Family Preservation Services Indiana. https://www.in.gov/dcs/files/ProviderSummary_INFPS_Evaluation_2021_02_22.pdf
This study was conducted in a usual care or practice setting (Handbook Section 6.2.2)