Fast Facts

 Very little research examines whether program participation reduces rates of future maltreatment, or re-entry into the child protection system even though these are common outcomes for reunified children. Knowledge and research are very limited around services and supports which promote successful reunifications. Furthermore, assessments of effectiveness generally use ‘rate of reunification’ as their primary outcome measure and do not monitor program impact after children have been returned. Given the high level of reunification breakdowns, this paper will highlight the importance of including measures of post-reunification outcomes to determine program effectiveness.