We continually evaluate our programs for children and youth to measure our success toward meeting our program objectives. The Foster Care Research Group at the University of San Francisco, in partnership with the staff of A Home Within, has formulated protocols and tools to assess the effectiveness of our work.

What do the results show?

Results of initial studies of the effectiveness of psychotherapy provided through the local chapters of A Home Within indicate that foster youth patients experienced clinically significant reductions in dissociative symptoms, anxiety, school problems, sleep problems, depression, peer relationship problems, and conduct problems. The majority of these foster children were seen once per week in psychotherapy and the majority of therapists conducted ongoing collaborative work during treatment with the child’s foster parents, human service agency caseworkers, and teachers. The most persistent obstacle to treatment was lack of transportation.

Students in the Fostering Art Program who participated in the pilot evaluation study indicated that the program helped them meet youth in similar circumstances and that this was important. The majority of participants reported recent changes in their behavior and in their emotional lives, which they explicitly attributed to Fostering Art.

Research on the clinical work of the local chapters of A Home Within across the country, as well as the Fostering Art program in San Francisco, are ongoing. Results are regularly presented at regional and national scientific meetings.

Read our recently released report, Results at Midpoint of the Treatment in A Home Within’s Local Chapters by June Madsen Clausen, PhD.

If you have questions about research and evaluation, please e-mail the Director of Research and Evaluation.

Need more information? Contact us.