Examining families' perceptions of intensive in-home services: A mixed methods study

Intensive in-home services play an important role in child welfare practice. This study explored whether families perceived they were stronger after their involvement with intensive in-home services in Arizona. Phase I of the project sampled 17 families who completed services three to six months prior to the study. Phase II sampled 36 families and followed participants during their involvement with services. The mixed methods concurrent triangulation design was used which involved administering a quantitative measure of family functioning and satisfaction with services, triangulated with qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with at least one adult member of each family. Ultimately, 102 interviews were conducted with 53 families. The study found most families (75%) felt they were stronger after participating in intensive in-home services. Of these families, many (82%) attributed part of their success to their involvement with these services. These results suggest most families in this study perceived intensive in-home services were helpful. However, 25% of participants did not see their family as any stronger after in-home services and some identified areas in which services could be enhanced. Although the perspectives of most of these families support the usefulness of intensive in-home services, improvements could be made to increase the consistent quality of service delivery potentially yielding more positive results for families.