NCJ Number
127796
Journal
Child Welfare League of America Volume: 70 Issue: 1 Dated: (January/February 1991) Pages: 19-33
Date Published
1991
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The distinguishing characteristics and details of the Family Assessment Form (FAF) created by workers at the Children's Bureau of Los Angeles to guide and improve practice in the assessment of client families, the development of appropriate service plans and the observation and recording of client change are discussed as is the process of assessing the form's content validity and reliability.
Abstract
Workers review the completed Family Assessment Form and develop a treatment plan based on those items determined most appropriate for focus. The family's functioning is then rated on each item on a 1-5 scale linked to child abuse and neglect. Assessment of the content validity of the FAF involved a review of eight existing instruments that were in use by home-based service agencies throughout the United States. Data for initial reliability estimates were obtained during the pilot testing phase of the instrument which was conducted from late 1987 to early 1988. As a result of the ongoing assessment of the validity and utility of the instrument via Children's Bureau staff experience and the initial reliability analysis, items were deleted from 9 of the 17 subscales and added to two subscales, resulting in a 102-item rather than the original 120-item form. Children's Bureau social workers use the FAF with approximately 500 families per year and have made it available to other professionals in similar programs. 15 references and 3 tables