Family Preservation & Reunification
Josiah White’s is dedicated to preservation.
Our number one goal is to reconnect and re-establish family bonds and keep the child in the home whenever possible.
The Family Preservation team’s time is not split between multiple services like many other providers. Instead, the team focuses directly and only on family preservation. This allows Josiah White’s Family Preservation team’s sole focus to be on training, care, and documentation toward the best possible outcome — a safe, loving family permanently together. This also keeps the goal of grounding the family in safety and hope at the forefront of the Family Preservation team’s minds.
Family Preservation in Numbers
In an effort to provide extraordinary care and competence, Josiah White’s Family Preservation team maintains a caseload of two case managers to ten cases.
Josiah White’s Family Preservation team uses a total of six Evidence Based Practices.
94% of children in families served by Josiah White’s Family Preservation Team remain with their families*
(*assessed at the 90 day mark, based on 2021 data)
Josiah White’s is dedicated to lightening FCMs’ loads.
From the outset, Josiah White’s Family Preservation team responds to referrals within the day and is at the family’s home within 24 hours, establishing the first safety plan with the family. A Josiah White’s family therapist will assess the family within five days of referral and combine DCS’s concerns, the therapist’s observations, and the family’s goals into their recommendations. Each family’s plan is customized with additional assessments for substance use, domestic violence, mental health, and parenting.
Josiah White’s is dedicated to fully caring for families’ needs.
Whether it is a lack of income, a medical issue, addiction or just plain old bed bugs, Josiah White’s Family Preservation team is trained for it and will guide the family through. The team is persistent in pursuit of each family, making multiple visits each week. The team builds trust with families because they meet them where they are and when the time comes, tenaciously motivate them toward change.
Offering Healthy Second Chances
Evidence-based Preservation Programs
Triple P Level 4 Standard and Teen
Triple P is an internationally-recognized parenting skill building program. Each family will work with Josiah White’s team on 17 standardized parenting skills. The use of strategies such as role-play and observed application will allow FCMs to more easily assess each family’s progress. This parenting program also offers extraordinary care and competence for autistic and developmentally-delayed children.
Community Advocacy Project
The Community Advocacy Project (CAP) is an evidence-based program which empowers survivors of domestic violence. The use of advocacy skills is used to move clients toward self-advocacy as they grow to recognize their inherent worth.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The Beck Institute is the worldwide training center for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Clients struggling with mental, emotional, and substance related concerns will work alongside Josiah White’s therapists who have received post-graduate training toward becoming a Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician. These therapists address addiction patterns and emotional and cognitive distortions with the family, right in their own home.
The Period of Purple Crying
The Period of PURPLE Crying is a program aimed at reducing anger leading to Shaken Baby Syndrome. As a Period of PURPLE Crying Affiliate Partner, Josiah White’s staff educates parents of infants on normal crying, cultural attitudes, and the use of coping strategies. Josiah White’s implementation of this program works in conjunction with local hospitals who also provide this training. Parents are also provided access to Period of PURPLE Crying’s app to watch videos and track crying, feeding, sleep, and diaper changes.
Advanced Motivational Interviewing
Advanced Motivational Interviewing (MI) uses the tracking components of collaborating, evoking, and empathizing with the family. Josiah White’s staff are encouraged to pursue the Advanced Motivational Interviewing certification through the international Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). MI recognizes that the true power of change rests with the client.
Seeking Safety
Seeking Safety is a present-focused approach to help families struggling with trauma and substance use. The program addresses trauma’s impact in the present without delving into the past. Through this program, families are equipped with over twenty coping skills including grounding to increase the likelihood of long-term sobriety.
Josiah White's Process
Once a referral is received, Josiah White’s Family Preservation team responds within the day. Once accepted, a Family Skills Coach visits the family within 24 hours to establish a safety plan.
A Family Therapist arrives within five days to complete an initial comprehensive assessment, providing the FCM with a clinical picture of the family’s needs.
During the course of the first month, the Josiah White’s team develops family rapport while learning the family’s goals. During this time, the team completes a Protective Factors Survey, a Genogram, and a family budget.
Additional assessments are completed as needed including a Parenting Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory. These may be combined with Triple P behavior charts to provide FCMs with a baseline of care. From there, the team develops a custom-tailored treatment plan with tangible action steps to move the family toward a nurturing and safe home.
Assessments Offered Include:
- Parent/Youth Conflict Behavior Questionnaire
- Parent/Child Interaction Observation
- Parenting Scale
- Relational Quality Index
- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
Clinical Assessments Include:
- Adverse Childhood Experiences
- Beck Anxiety Inventory
- Beck Depression Inventory
- Beck Suicide Screen
- Conflict Tactics Scale
- HITS Assessment
- Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory
