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.
A re-review of INFPS was conducted in March 2026 based on additional outcomes from Study 15149 being eligible for review under the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Version 2.0. The re-review resulted in a change of the study rating from moderate to low on design and execution due to the identification of a design confound.
The Prevention Services Clearinghouse’s independent systematic review of INFPS found that no studies of the program achieved a rating of moderate or high on design and execution.
As of December 2025, the ACF Assistant Secretary has final approval authority over the determination of the program or service rating. For more information, please visit the FAQ on the rating determination policy.
Date Last Reviewed by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse (Handbook Version 2.0): Mar 2026
Date Program or Service Description Last Updated: Mar 2026
Date Originally Reviewed by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse (Handbook Version 1.0): 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, download the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Version 2.0
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 | 0 |
| Rated Low | 1 |
| Reviewed Only for Risk of Harm | 0 |
Studies Rated Low
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 received a low rating because it did not meet design confound standards.