Three year follow-up study of families referred to a family intervention team - what are the outcomes that make a difference?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-term outcomes for 15 young people on a range of indicators including school success, involvement with other agencies and the perceived effectiveness by the family. Design/methodology/approach - Semi-structured telephone interviews were used to gather a range of both quantitative and qualitative data. Interviews were with a parent of the referred child (n = 15). Findings - In all, 87 per cent of care-givers interviewed rated the service they had received as helpful 85 per cent reported these changes to be maintained at the three year follow-up. Rate of school exclusion was only 7 per cent and 0 per cent of families went on to have involvement with statutory social services or the youth justice system. Research limitations/implications - This is a small-scale study offering a small sample (n = 15) of families previously referred to this Family Intervention Team, at a three-year post-intervention period. More routine longitudinal information needs to be gathered for a more robust indication on long-term outcomes. Practical implications - The impact this study will have on the team involved will be in its recommendations for further long-term outcome studies; but also in feeding back to the service the significant key messages from those interviewed. Social implications - Contributing to a wider understanding of the long-term benefits of early intervention. Originality/value - This paper offers some new though small statistical data in the growing pool of statistics that are indicating positive outcomes for early intervention and family intervention projects.