Treatment Family Care
FFTA Launches Initiative to Develop the Sixth Edition of Treatment Family Care Standards
FFTA is excited to announce the launch of a new initiative to develop the sixth edition of its Treatment Family Care Standards, a framework that has helped guide quality services for children and families since the first edition was published in 1991.
What is Treatment/Therapeutic Family Care (TFC)?
Treatment Family Care (formerly treatment/therapeutic foster care) is therapeutic treatment care for children and youth with special medical, psychological, emotional and social needs who can accept and respond to the close relationships within a family setting, but whose special needs require intensive or therapeutic services. TFC is, therefore, distinguished from “traditional” foster care, “kinship” foster care, and “specialized” (homes contracted with Department of Developmental Disabilities) foster care, where the fundamental need is a need for placement. Eligibility for TFC treatment services is regulated by each state and their individually set Medicaid/medical necessity criteria.
Treatment Family caregivers must meet rigorous application qualifications and requirements for pre-service and on-going training. They must be certified in de-escalation techniques, and they must comply with the same Medicaid documentation requirements as a residential or institutional treatment center.
Treatment Family Care is the least restrictive form of out-of-home therapeutic placement for children with severe emotional disorders. TFC keeps children out of in-patient hospitals, congregate care, and group homes, which are more expensive for State budgets to fund. According to research available, youth in TFC have equal or better therapeutic outcomes when compared to similar youth in institutional treatment or traditional foster care.
TFC children are referred by state child welfare agencies for services due to complex problems and special needs for which those same state agencies are unable to provide needed, specialized care. Estimates are that about 10% of the 446,000 children in out-of-home care nationally are in TFC care for a total of around 44,000.
A Collaborative Vision for Updated Standards
To support this effort, FFTA is partnering with Accreditation Guru, a national leader in accreditation and standards development, to lead a collaborative and community-driven process to reimagine these standards for today’s evolving human services landscape.
For more than three decades, FFTA’s standards have been used by both private and public organizations at the county and statewide levels to support practice improvement, program development, contracting, licensing, accreditation, and quality improvement efforts.
A Vision for the Future of Human Services
The forthcoming sixth edition will build on decades of learning across the FFTA community and the broader human services field. In addition to advancing practices that support trauma-informed care, stability, and connectedness for youth and families, the updated standards will also explore a broader set of factors that influence an organization’s ability to deliver impactful services. These may include areas such as leadership, workplace wellness, technology, cross-system partnerships, innovation, and other elements that support strong organizations and effective service delivery.
At the same time, the effort recognizes that standards should strengthen organizations and improve outcomes without creating unnecessary administrative burdens or barriers to delivering care. Through this process, FFTA aims to ensure the next edition reflects both leading practices and the real-world experience of organizations and families, supporting high-quality services while remaining practical and achievable for those doing the work.
Learn More About Treatment Family Care
Building on the Foundation
Building on the fifth edition of the standards released in 2019, which expanded the focus beyond foster care services to support all family formations and youth with therapeutic-level needs, the sixth edition will continue to advance standards that support foster families, adoptive families, kinship caregivers, and birth families.
Be Part of the Conversation
The project will include broad engagement across the field, using a range of methods designed to gather diverse perspectives and expertise. Engagement opportunities will include surveys, virtual focus groups, and stakeholder conversations with those working directly to support children and families in communities, service recipients and individuals with lived experience, as well as leaders across public and private organizations in child welfare, mental health, and related human service sectors. Additional perspectives will also be included from experts in fields such as education, healthcare, technology, and risk management, among others.
