Outcome Evaluation of Girls and Boys Town's Family Home Program

The Teaching Family program is one of the most extensively researched models for residential care. A major meta-analysis found that the Teaching Family Model (TFM) was one of the five most consistently effective treatments for delinquents. However, two recent publications imply that behaviorally based and/or group treatments might be harmful. Moreover, studies have rarely investigated TFM outcomes for girls as well as boys. This study responds to these challenges by reporting outcomes of the Girls and Boys Town Family Home Program, a modification of the Teaching Family Model. Both boys and girls improved significantly on 16 of 17 standardized outcome scores and were functioning as well as national norms three months after discharge. This expands evidence of the Family Home Program's effectiveness to a wide range of outcomes for girls as well as boys.