A Home Within Impact Evaluation: In partnership with USF's Foster Care Research Group and University of Oregon's Center for Equity Promotion
A Home Within has long been committed to documenting the impacts of our work through rigorous research and evaluation. Since 2001, the University of San Francisco’s Foster Care Research Group, led by Dr. Saralyn Ruff and Dr. June Clausen, has measured therapist-reported treatment outcomes for the foster youth A Home Within serves. Findings show that A Home Within’s model of open-ended, relationship-based, trauma-informed psychotherapy for foster youth has contributed to the significant reduction of mental health symptoms including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and dissociative states, all of which would otherwise have grave consequences if left un- or under-treated.
This research provided the foundation for a major expansion of our evaluation, and in 2021—with the generous support of a local family foundation—we are greatly expanding our program evaluation. Dr. Ruff and Dr. Deanna Linville, A Home Within’s Programs and Research Consultant and Associate Research Professor at the University of Oregon, are heading up this expansion.
Dr. Ruff and Dr. Linville are launching two new projects funded by this new grant, both described below:
By completing Phase 1 in preparation for Phase 2, we aim to center our research on the voices and ideas of those with a history of foster care to continue a foundational commitment to youth empowerment in all aspects of their partnership with A Home Within. To learn more about these projects or if you have any questions, please contact Dr. Saralyn Ruff, Term Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco; Director, Foster Care Research Group. To learn more about Dr. Deanna Linville’s research, click here.
SARALYN RUFF
DEANNA LINVILLE
