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Reunifying Families After an Out-of-Home Residential Stay: Evaluation of a Blended Intervention

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Abstract

For youth placed in out-of-home residential care, there has been a trend towards shorter lengths of stay and earlier reentry into the community. In order to support reentry, we propose blending out-of-home residential care with aftercare services. In this study 89 youth that were in or at risk of entering the juvenile justice system received a unique blend of a behavioral-focused residential care program with a family based in-home aftercare service. Results indicate that youth displayed decreased behavior problems and families practiced improved parenting skills at discharge. Further, at discharge from services youth were reported to engage in more positive interactions with peers. Follow-up data also suggested that at 12 months post-discharge, these youth had a high rate of remaining arrest-free, were living in a homelike setting, and had either graduated or were attending school.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this research was provided from a Grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Grant No. 16.541.

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Correspondence to Jay L. Ringle.

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Ringle, J.L., Thompson, R.W. & Way, M. Reunifying Families After an Out-of-Home Residential Stay: Evaluation of a Blended Intervention. J Child Fam Stud 24, 2079–2087 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-0009-2

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