Impact of Family Treatment Court on Reunification and Permanency Child Welfare Outcomes in the Midwest

Background and Purpose: The intersection of parental substance use and child welfare system involvement presents significant challenges for families, often leading to family separation and foster care placement. Family treatment courts (FTC) aim to address these issues by coordinating legal proceedings with substance use treatment and other support services, with the ultimate goal of promoting recovery and family reunification (Zhang et al., 2019). Despite a growing implementation of FTCs, recent empirical evidence of their impact is limited. This study aimed to add to the current literature. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a FTC in an urban setting in the Midwestern United States, focusing on its impact on family reunification and permanency. The research questions were: (1) Were FTC participants more likely to reunify compared to foster children who did not receive FTC services? (2) Did FTC participants reunify more quickly compared to foster children who did not receive FTC services? (3) Did FTC participation result in reduced time spent in foster care?

Methods: Using a quasi-experimental design, 186 children involved in a FTC program were compared with 274 propensity score-matched foster children who did not participate in a FTC. Data from October 2017 to March 2022 was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models and life table analysis to assess likelihood of reunification, time to reunification, and foster care utilization.

Results: No demographic or case characteristics differed between FTC and matched comparisons after matching. The Cox proportional hazards model revealed that FTC participants were twice as likely to reunify with their families in a shorter period than non-participants (HR = 1.999, p < .001). The FTC group had a consistently higher and faster rate of reunification compared to the comparison group. Additionally, FTC involvement resulted in an average reduction of 114 days in foster care per child, totaling 21,218.88 fewer days in foster care for the treatment group during the study period.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings highlight the potential of FTCs to improve child welfare outcomes by increasing both the probability and timeliness of family reunification and reducing children’s time spent in foster care. The results build on existing research that suggests parents who complete a FTC program have a higher likelihood of reunification compared to those who do not enroll in or complete a FTC program (Gifford et al., 2014) and are twice as likely to reunify relative to parents who do not participate in a FTC (Chuang et al., 2012). The results support the expansion of FTCs and underscore the need for policies that provide adequate resources and support for their implementation. Based on these findings, policymakers should consider expanding FTC programs. Future research should further explore the long-term impacts of FTC participation on child and family well-being.