Peer-reviewed article

Working Towards Prevention for Families At-Risk of Child Maltreatment—Meeting Families’ Needs through Community Response in Colorado

Heather Allan, Lisa Merkel‐Holguin, Marc Winokur, Ida Drury · 5 Jan 2023

Abstract

Abstract In the USA, there is a growing emphasis in child protective services (CPS) on prevention for families deemed at-risk of child maltreatment. The Colorado Community Response (CCR) program is one such effort in Colorado to support families to prevent future involvement with CPS. The CCR program is designed to meet family needs, with an explicit focus on economic self-sufficiency and stability. The pilot CCR program was implemented from 2014 through 2017 and evaluated to determine the effectiveness of CCR in preventing child welfare reinvolvement for participating families. By utilizing a pre-post design, it was found that for participating families, the short-term outcomes of protective factors and family functioning across 13 domains were enhanced. Using a matched comparison group, quasi-experimental design and long-term measures of child welfare re-involvement were found to be similarly impacted such that likelihood of subsequently founded assessments and out-of-home placements was significantly less for families who completed CCR services than their matched comparison counterparts. This study adds to a body of evidence that suggests programs and services that provide concrete and economic supports for families can be effective in preventing child welfare (re)involvement.