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problems, is useful as an integrated package of tools, and appears promising in guidingtherapeutic strategies. While it has relatively good inter-rater reliability, concurrent and contentvalidity, and is sensitive to clinical change, the DFIS has not been used with child welfarepopulations (Wilkinson, 2000; Wilkinson, & Stratton, 1991).Figure 4. Promising Measures of Comprehensive Family Assessment for Child WelfareInstrumentsIntake/ScreeningChild Welfare Decision/Stage of AssessmentInvestigation/DiagnosisCasePlanningContinuing Services,Placement &Reunification/Monitoring & EvaluationNorth Carolina Family AssessmentScale (NCFAS)X X XNCFAS for Reunification(NCFAS-R)XXStrengths and Stressors TrackingDevice (SSTD)X X XFamily Assessment Form (FAF) X X XFamily Assessment Checklist(FAC)X X XAckerman-Schoendorf Scales forParent Evaluation of Custody(ASPECT)XXDarlington Family AssessmentX X X XSystem (DFAS)X = child welfare decision/stage of assessment for which instrument is used14
In summary, of the seven most promising assessment instruments, the NCFAS, theNCFAS-R, and the FAF appear to be the most relevant for use in child welfare settings, despitesome of their psychometric limitations. The NCFAS instruments utilize a strengths-basedorientation and have been extensively tested with child welfare populations. The FAF wasdesigned for child welfare settings and has been used in several jurisdictions over the past tenyears. Software versions of the FAF offer benefits that should be of interest to child welfaremanagers. The Darlington Family Assessment System (DFAS) also appears promising given itsmulti-system, multi-method approach, which mirrors the family assessment process in childwelfare by using multiple methods to gain multiple perspectives in a case. It has excellentpsychometric properties and is comprehensive in nature. However, more research is needed toestablish its validity with child welfare populations and to evaluate its feasibility due to lengthyadministration time.Patterns of Social Interaction and SupportWe identified four measures for specialized assessment for use at multiple points in thelife of the case that focus on patterns of social interaction (including the nature of contact andinvolvement with others, and the presence or absence of social support networks andrelationships at multiple points in the life of the case). As noted in Figure 5, these instrumentsinclude the McMaster Model, the Assessment of Strategies in Families-Effectiveness (ASF-E),the Circumplex Model, and the Family Assessment Measure III.Figure 5. Promising Measures of Social InteractionInstrumentIntake/ScreeningChild Welfare Decision/Stage of AssessmentInvestigation/DiagnosisCasePlanningContinuingServices,Placement &Reunification/Monitoring &EvaluationMcMaster Model X X X XAssessment of Strategies in Families-Effectiveness (ASF-E)X X XCircumplex Model X X XFamily Assessment Measure III X XX = child welfare decision/stage of assessment for which instrument is used15
Page 1 and 2: Family Assessment in Child Welfare
Page 3 and 4: IntroductionFor child welfare servi
Page 5 and 6: Family Assessment and Measurement C
Page 7 and 8: measures. Briefly, validity is the
Page 9 and 10: 7. What does the instrument tell a
Page 11 and 12: In terms of measurement criteria, h
Page 13 and 14: The NCFAS for Reunification (NCFAS-
Page 15: ecommendations by assessing charact
Page 19 and 20: include the Clinical Rating Scale (
Page 21 and 22: Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CA
Page 23 and 24: descriptive and discriminative powe
Page 25 and 26: Implications for PracticeRather tha
Page 27 and 28: techniques. These include allocatin
Page 29 and 30: Appendix AMeasurement Criteria (Per
Page 31 and 32: ESRC Evidence NetworkNHS Centre for
Page 33 and 34: ReferencesAkister, J., & Stevenson-
Page 35: Perlmutter, B. F., & Czar, G. (2001

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