Juvenile Justice Risk Factors and Functional Family Therapy Fidelity on Felony Recidivism.

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Family Therapy

Background:

• Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is utilized in court-ordered probation services for delinquent youth.
• Home-based FFT is delivered across 11 community sites in Florida.
• Services aim to divert youth from incarceration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between client risk levels, therapist caseloads, and treatment fidelity in FFT.
• To investigate the impact of case-mix on recidivism rates among referred youth.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 5,884 families receiving FFT.
• Examination of pretreatment recidivism risk and therapist caseload composition.
• Assessment of clinical process indicators related to treatment fidelity.

Main Results:

• Both individual client risk and site-level case-mix of high-risk clients correlated with increased adjudicated felony recidivism.
• Therapists with larger caseloads of high-risk clients exhibited higher treatment fidelity.
• Therapist experience with challenging clients appears critical for maintaining fidelity.

Conclusions:

• Caseload composition significantly influences recidivism and treatment fidelity in FFT.
• Specialized training and experience are essential for therapists working with high-risk juvenile populations.
• FFT shows promise in redirecting delinquent youth, but fidelity is influenced by therapist experience and client risk.