As a Consultant for FFT LLC, I’ve been lucky to work on a wide range of projects with teams implementing Functional Family Therapy (FFT) models across the country.
Whenever I work with my therapy teams (those that are practicing FFT or FFT-Child Welfare) and happen to mention I also work with FFP (Functional Family Probation & Parole) and FFCM (Functional Family Case Management) teams, right away, I get two burning questions:
1. What are Functional Family Probation (FFP) and Functional Family Case Management (FFCM)? Answer – Simply put, Functional Family Probation (FFP) and Functional Family Case Management (FFCM) bring key Functional Family Therapy (FFT) principles into case management work for juvenile probation officers and child welfare professionals.
2. Seriously?? How do we get that?
The Challenge for Probation and Child Welfare Professionals
Even the most talented therapists can find it challenging to help families feel safe and comfortable in their meetings. For probation officers and child welfare workers, this is an even greater challenge.
When the families anticipate having their first meeting with their probation officer or child welfare worker, fear often shows up first, with thoughts such as: .
“They want to lock me up.”
“They want to take my kids away.”
Oftentimes, a general wariness towards their probation officer or child welfare worker comes from a place of fear, guilt, shame, or prior negative experiences with providers and other systems. While it’s true that some officers and child welfare workers may come off as more harsh or strict than others, the vast majority of people who choose these careers are there because they want to help youth and families.
My work with our FFP and FFCM teams proves this. I’ve worked with teams everywhere from New York City, the Midwest, and out to Washington State. I have yet to meet a juvenile probation officer or child welfare professional who got into their field for “the wrong reasons.” The workers who find themselves in these programs are much like our therapists – they want to treat families with dignity and respect, and help them improve their lives.
It's one thing to take that approach as a clinician; it’s a whole other challenge when your job is to report the youth and family’s progress to the court. In practice, the justice officer or child welfare worker can establish a strong relationship with the family, then have to report a violation of probation or safety concern without losing the alliance they have built over time. They have to walk a tightrope between “doing their job” while maintaining credibility with the family to be able to support them through their setbacks.
Who Uses Functional Family Therapy Probation and Case Management?
- Juvenile Probation Officers
- Juvenile Justice Agencies
- Child Welfare Professionals
- Case Managers working with high-risk families
- Courts seeking family-centered, evidence-based approaches
How FFP and FFCM support the work?
So how do we do this in FFP and FFCM? Very similarly to how we teach our therapists. We talk to them about model principles – being strength-based, relational, and alliance-based. In my experience, I have not had a single worker push back or challenge these concepts. If anything, they report a sense of relief that they can approach their jobs from this lens instead of the ones that tend to come up when people think about what their job entails. It doesn’t take long for them to want to learn more.
The FFP and FFCM models are near and dear to my heart. I have such an appreciation for the work they do, in the toughest of conditions, approaching families with humility and dignity. As my teams would tell you, they work with “the top 1% of the highest risk families, within the top 1% of the highest risk families,” and they have amazing results to show for their hard work. Our FFP and FFCM teams routinely work with some of the highest-risk youth and families in their communities and demonstrate improved engagement, reduced detention and out of home placement, and stronger family outcomes.
I think it would be fitting to end this post with two success stories from these teams, as they are the ones in the field every day bringing health and happiness to the families they serve.
Success Story: Reducing Detention in a High-Risk Urban Community
This is a team that works in a high-risk area near a major city. To give perspective, there was a time one summer they were not allowed to visit families in their homes due to the risk of violence. Further, many of their youths could not go to school or look for jobs in their area because their lives would be at risk due to their potentially being attacked. In over two years working with them, they had only one youth who did not come out of secure detention and one youth who did not have a felony weapons charge. In time, they became extremely adept in the model. One of their catchphrases to the families was, “if I lived here, I would carry a gun, too,” to show empathy and understanding.
The team began to successfully advocate for early release from probation, as the youths and families were meeting conditions of probation well in advance of their termination date. On one particular occasion, the prosecutor disagreed with the officer’s recommendation for early termination. Upon hearing the case, the judge sided with probation and allowed the youth to end early. The youth’s mother was crying with joy, and thanked the officer for all of their work in helping the family.
Success Story: Building Trauma-Informed Support in a Rural County
A county in a very rural area has spent years advocating for better services for families, sometimes even having services at all. Getting to appointments was a significant challenge for the families there. Over time, more providers came to the area, including evidence-based trauma treatment. All of their work paid off when a youth who they had served previously returned from out of state. The youth had been moved between many family members and foster homes, carrying significant trauma and emotional and behavioral health needs. When the youth returned to the area, they were able to set up a unique treatment team to help stabilize the family. After about 6 months, the youth had made a complete turnaround and were successful at home, in school, and in their social life. The team acknowledged this success as the payoff for all of the years advocating for good services in a very underserved area of the country.
There are countless stories like these in our FFP and FFCM programs. We are proud to partner with these teams and be a part of the work they do, working with the most difficult families in their communities while adhering to all state and county regulations, along with the FFP and FFCM models.
Interested in learning more about Functional Family Probation and Parole (FFP) or Functional Family Case Management (FFCM)? Contact us to explore how these models can support your team’s work and strengthen outcomes for the youth and families you serve.