Evaluation of Florida's Specialized Therapeutic Foster Care

Publication Date: 6/1/2005

Description:

The purposes of this report are (a) to report on fi ndings from the fi rst-year evaluation of Florida's Specialized Th erapeutic Foster Care Program (STFC), (b) to report on a literature review and national scan of therapeutic1 or treatment foster care programs, (c) to review Florida's existing policy guidelines for STFC, and (d) to present an evaluation plan for the second year's study. Th e Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) requested this project to provide a description of the children currently being served by STFC, the services and supports these children are receiving, and the discharge settings for these youth. A specifi c area of inquiry is an assessment of STFC's levels of care, known as Levels I and II, and analysis of any diff erences in the demographic and clinical characteristics of the youth served, in the services off ered to the youths and caregivers, in the lengths of stay, and in discharge settings. For the second year, the evaluation will ask what is known regarding evidence-based practice in Florida's treatment foster care programs, to what degree Florida's STFC programs are consonant with the national guidelines promulgated by the Foster Family-Based Treatment Association, and provide a more detailed investigation of the questions and issues raised by the administrative data analysis conducted in the fi rst year of the evaluation.