The Ecological In-Home Family Treatment (EIHFT) service model has been recognized by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse as a Promising Practice under the service name Boys Town In-Home Family Services (BT-IHFS).

This service focuses on building the skills of parents/caregivers of system-involved youth. Leveraging an adapted version of the Boys Town’s evidence-based Common Sense Parenting® program designed to build on existing skills or learn new ways to manage youth behaviors, EIHFT/BT-IHFS delivers intensive home-based services to the family/social ecology of the youth on probation to create lasting change. This model has been shown effective at improving many of the underlying reasons youth find themselves on probation by engaging families, conducting assessments, building parenting and life skills, and assisting with resources and supports. As the clearinghouse program overview noted, “BT-IHFS was developed to serve families with high caregiver strain, ineffective parenting strategies, difficulty accessing formal and informal supports, and children with significant emotional and behavioral needs.”

Promising Practices are those initiatives that have demonstrated efficacy via peer-reviewed research using reliable and valid outcome measures. This milestone is a key benchmark in probation’s work to bring evidence-based practices that meet the needs of the youth and families across the state. The Administrative Office of the Courts and Probation has concentrated on expanding rural access to these services in recent years. EIHFT/BT-IHFS services are available for youth in most counties statewide.

Preparations are underway to align the service name between Judicial Branch references and clearinghouse publications.

More information can be found on the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse website: https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/boys-town-in-home-family-services/.