ABSTRACT

Family Finding is a six-step intervention designed to support older youth lingering in foster care. Through the intervention, permanency specialists discover and engage family members and significant adults who can support youth in their transition to independent living. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore the intervention’s implementation fidelity, learn about permanency specialists’ experiences using the Family Finding intervention, and to offer recommendations for ways to improve on the implementation of the intervention. The findings suggest that permanency specialists do not deliver the intervention according to the six steps as intended. The participants modified the actual steps of the intervention and reported that they lack specific measurements against which to assess implementation fidelity. The findings of this study are significant to those who apply the intervention such as program developers, policy practitioners, and researchers.

摘要

家庭寻找是一项六步干预措施，旨在支持在寄养中徘徊的年长青年。通过干预，永久性专家发现并吸引可以支持青年过渡到独立生活的家庭成员和重要成年人。这项混合方法研究的目的是探索干预措施的实施保真度，了解永久性专家使用家庭寻找干预措施的经验，并为改进干预措施的实施提供建议。研究结果表明，永久性专家没有按照预期的六个步骤进行干预。参与者修改了干预的实际步骤，并报告说他们缺乏评估实施保真度的具体衡量标准。