Insert Agency/Program Name
Date of Training

 To understand purpose and theory underpinning development of the FAF
 To become familiar with FAF structure
 To practice using the FAF

 Developed between 1986-1990 at Children’s
Bureau of Southern California, a non-profit agency providing child abuse treatment and prevention services.
 Created by a team of staff: home visitors, supervisor, developmental psychologist, and research consultants.
 Used in several program evaluation studies and a major controlled research study in Los Angeles
County.

 Highlights
 FAF is valid and reliable measure of family functioning; good inter-rater reliability within 1/2 point
 Families served by Children’s Bureau changed most in areas of caregiver/child interactions and least in caregiver/caregiver interactions
 Families most likely NOT to change exhibited common characteristics
 Serious problems in caregiver’s own histories
 Serious problems in current functioning (i.e. substance abuse, mental illness, domestic violence, etc.)
 Serious problems in multiple family functioning factors

 Thorough Family Assessments
 Focused Goals and Service Plans
 Orientation for New Staff
 Identification of Training Needs
 Consistent and Efficient Documentation
 Program Evaluation

 Challenge of home visitation
 multiple distractions and crises can interfere with understanding core issues
 worker not in control of environment
 family problems can be overwhelming
 Importance of the Big Picture
 need to understand family dynamics, short and longterm needs, stresses, etc.
 good assessments take time; time well spent
 Focus on family strengths
 need structured way to emphasize strengths

 Goals and service plans need to be linked to assessment
 Cannot address everything; need to be thoughtfully selective in goal setting
 Service plan needs to be realistic and unique to the family situation
 Assessment informs HOW you work with a family as well as what you work on
 unique family strengths
 impact of personal characteristics and/or history

 FAF helps clarify expectations and scope of work for new staff
 Points to areas of individual or team training needs
 Helps structure individual supervision and case presentations
 FAF is a tool to teach assessment and service planning
 FAF provides objective language for report writing

 Consistency of documentation across workers, program sites, etc.
 Short-hand method for home visitor casework documentation
 Easy to review by others (i.e. supervisor, backup home visitor)
 FAF takes a “snapshot” of the family
 FAF takes the place of a written, narrative assessment

 Provides immediate feedback to worker on individual family change
 Valid, reliable measure of family functioning in six key areas
 Aggregate data can be used to report on program outcomes

 Practice First
 first and foremost a practice tool that has to work for the home visitor
 not designed to structure family sessions, rather to document differently what is learned about the family

 Ecological/Systems Theory
 Problems are not within individuals rather in the “fit” between parts of the system
 FAF addresses physical environment, social support, caregiver child interactions, caregiver functioning and child behavior
 Intervention might be targeted at a “misfit” in the system
 i.e., child’s school problem may be related to parent/teacher communication
 Change in one part of the system will change another part
 i.e., improved parenting skills will improve child development

 Emphasize Family Strengths
 need a disciplined way to “see” strengths in families with complex problems
 FAF rating scale “forces” identification of strengths

 Family Functioning Factors
 Personal Characteristics and History
 Child Behavior/Observation Checklist
 Service Plan
 Contacts
 Closing Summary

 Six Outcome Measures of Family Functioning -
38 items total
 A. Living Conditions - 6 items
 B. Financial Conditions - 5 items
 C. Supports to Caregivers - 5 items
 D. Caregiver/Child Interactions - 12 items
 E. Developmental Stimulation - 4 items
 F. Caregiver Interactions - 6 items

 Two Adult Assessment Factors not used as outcome measures because not expected to change or could get worse (i.e., learn more about someone’s history)
 G. Caregiver History - 8 items
 F. Personal Characteristics - 12 items

 Child Specific Categories optional items not used for outcome measurement
 I.
Acting Out Behaviors - 7 items
 J.
Inner Directed Behaviors - 9 items
 K.
School Behaviors - 4 items
 L.
Health and Development - 7 items
 M.
Temperament - 4 items

 Components
 FAF items indicating strengths
 FAF items of concern
 Goals related to areas of concern
 Methods for addressing each goal
 Frequency and duration of contact

 Components
 Who, what, when, where
 Intervention Lists
 Teaching and Demonstrating
 Counseling/Issues Addressed
 Case Management/Advocacy
 Concrete/Practical
 Progress/Homework/Follow-up Tasks
 Referrals

 Case Result
(i.e., completed, dropped, lost, child placed, etc.)
 Outcome on Individual Family Goals
 Outcome of Referrals
 Summary Progress Notes

 Meaning of Scores
 FAF Ratings
 FAF as Initial Assessment
 FAF at Termination of Services

- found on
Help Menu
 1.
Above average. Positive influences/traits that have a strengthening effect on the family and/or child.
 2.
Generally Adequate. Minor problems within normal limits; not necessarily nonexistent, but do not create problems for caregivers or children. Treatment or intervention not necessary, but may be desired by caregivers to improve parenting.
 3.
Problems of a moderate nature. Negative impact on the welfare of children or put the family at risk. Counseling, intervention, or parent education are indicated.
 4.
Problems of a major nature. Significant negative influence on children or caregiver’s well-being. Intervention required.
 5.
Situation is endangering to children’s health, safety, and wellbeing. May call for removal of child; intervention and monitoring required.

 Each item is rated on a 1-5 scale
 option to rate 1.5, 2.5, etc.
 Each item has an operational definition, based on the overall meaning of scores, to guide rating selection
 it is VERY important to follow the definitions
 definitions are examples of the kinds of things you might see, hear, etc.; use them as a guide
 refer to overall meaning of scores to help with rating decisions as needed

 FAF serves as only form of assessment documentation
 rule of thumb is to complete within 3-4 visits including service plan
 rate items following each visit with a family
 review FAF areas not assessed yet in preparation for subsequent visits
 Do not change ratings following this established
“baseline” period

 Re-rate FAF at termination of services prior to completing the closing summary
 this should not require a special visit with the family as the worker already knows the family well
 termination rating should take about 1/2 hour
 Programs may wish to re-rate FAF at additional intervals (i.e., annually)

 FAF is a framework for approaching assessment NOT a structured interview or questionnaire
 FAF is a psychosocial assessment documented differently
 Obtain FAF data by asking and observing

 Use the operational definitions and overall meaning of scores to determine ratings
 this is key to maintaining inter-rater reliability
 Brief narrative comments are essential
 helps explain scores and uniqueness of each family
 Remember to tie goals directly to assessed areas of concern

 Practice Rating Living and Financial
Conditions Factors
 Think of a home you know well. It could be your own, the one you grew up in, or a clients. Get a good picture of it in your head.
 With a blank FAF and pencil, rate sections A and B.
 Debrief as a group

 Mock Interview
 Divide into small groups no larger than 5
 Each group gets a Script and blank FAF
 Group members take turns reading the two parts in the Script - worker and mother
 Stop, discuss and rate the FAF as indicated on the Script
 Continue working through Script
 Debrief as a large group

 What is a goal?
 “the end toward which an effort is directed” -
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
 a future state of being
 what will the family situation look like when you have finished your work together
 what will be different?

 What factors contribute to goal setting?
 Input from the family
 Presenting problem by referral source
 FAF assessment
 Other?
 Art is in blending these together into meaningful goals that the client is willing to work towards

 Specific and Clear
 Measurable and Observable
 Accomplishments - state positively
 To practice active listening skills vs. to reduce level of arguing
 Use active voice
 Parents will clean the house once a week
 Realistic based on resources - yours and the family’s
 Timeframe for achievement

 Problem: Cleanliness/orderliness inside home (dirty dishes, trash overflowing, soiled diapers on floor)
 Goal: Parents to demonstrate understanding of hygiene for children’s health and safety by maintaining a clean home (i.e., doing dishes daily, taking out trash weekly, etc.)
 Method: Teach parents about connection between health and hygiene using videos and handouts; help develop cleaning schedule; provide start-up cleaning products

 Problem: Appropriateness of discipline (only use corporal punishment with shoes and belt)
 Goal: Parents to verbalize and implement timeout technique correctly
 Method: Teach and demonstrate time-out; provide timer; coach and support parents in explaining new rules and consequences with children

 Problem: Bonding style to children (parent pushes baby away and believes he is crying intentionally to anger parent)
 Goal: Parent to respond positively to child’s cry for comfort; parent to verbalize understanding of child development and reasons for crying behaviors
 Methods: Provide and review child development information; explore parent’s feelings; demonstrate how to comfort baby; develop options for parent so child’s needs are met

 Divide into small groups no larger than 5
 Each group member gets a sample completed
FAF with ratings and comments
 Each group gets a flip chart size piece of paper and markers
 Each group gets assigned sections of the FAF to work on (i.e., group 1 gets section A, group 2 gets section B, etc.)

 Ask each group to:
 list on the flip chart paper the strengths identified in their assigned section
 list on the flip chart paper the concerns identified in their assigned section
 develop at least one well stated goal addressing one of the concerns
 identify what methods the group might use to address this goal

 Debrief Exercise
 Have each group present their thinking related to their section
 Engage group in constructively critiquing the goals and methods
 Reinforce how to use the family strengths to address the concerns

 Reinforce important messages
 Questions and Answers
 Plan for Next Steps in Implementation of
FAF in your agency
 Participant satisfaction/feedback surveys