Evaluation of a Wraparound Process for Children Exposed to Family Violence

Abstract

Numerous programs have been established to help children who have experienced or are experiencing family violence, but few of these programs have been systematically evaluated. To contribute to the field’s understanding of interventions for young children exposed to family violence and their families, we evaluated an intervention that offers comprehensive assessment, targeted caregiver-child intervention, individualized service planning, and care coordination. Baseline-to-discharge results revealed (1) a significant decrease over time in the number of potentially traumatic events that children experienced, including family and nonfamily violence events, (2) significant decreases over time in children’s post-traumatic stress–intrusive thoughts and post-traumatic stress–avoidance behaviors, (3) significant decreases in self-reported stress associated with the parenting role among caregivers, (4) favorable ratings of services by caregivers, and (5) high levels of service receipt.