Functional Family Therapy

Model Information

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Logic Model
• Clinical Overview
  This one-page handout provides a brief overview of the FFT model, including five facts About FFT and What You Can Expect from FFT.
• FFT & MST: What's The Difference?
  This Frequently Asked Questions document provides information about the similarities and differences between the FFT and MST models on issues such as target population, theoretical underpinnings, outcomes, intensity and length of treatment, and cost-benefit, among others.
• Sustaining Your FFT Program (slides)
  This presentation includes what research tells us about the predictors of sustainability and a brief overview of eight essential elements of sustainability. For more information about sustainability, visit our Planning Sustainability page and research brief "Sustainability of Evidence-based Programs: Findings from the 2010 PCCD Web Survey."
• FFT Implementation Manual - Coming soon!

Have question about FFT? 

• Email fft@episcenter.org

Outcomes

• Three Years of Data for FFT (Fiscal Years 2012-2014)
• Return on Investment for Three Years of FFT (Fiscal Years 2012-2014)
• Pennsylvania-specific Outcome Reports

Provider Resources

• Coordinated Funding of FFT & MST Training 
  An overview of the funding arrangement for PA therapists attending orientation training and how providers can access supplemental funding.
• Paving The Way
  A newsletter for Pennsylvania evidence-based intervention providers.
• Networking Meeting Resources 
  Resources from Pennsylvania FFT networking meetings.
• FFT Therapist Hiring Checklist (Pennsylvania)
  This hiring checklist for FFT therapists combines guidelines from FFT, requirements for MA-funded programs in Pennsylvania, and best practice.
• Effectively Negotiating With Funders: Three Tips for EBI Providers 
  A summary of tips from Pennsylvania providers, organized around three key strategies.
• Places to Recruit New Clinicians
  A resource containing helpful tips to help with recruitment of clinicians
• Community Report Template and Instructions
  This 2-page template can be tailored for use with different audiences to communicate about the FFT model, including how it works, research findings, and cost-effectiveness. There is room to briefly share local outcomes. A brief instructional document provides information about how to make changes to the template.
• Outcomes Report Template and Instructions 
  This 3-page template can be customized by sites to easily and effectively present program outcomes to stakeholders. The template includes a brief program overview and mirrors data outcomes generated by INSPIRE. A brief instructional document provides information about how to make changes to the template.
• Stakeholder Meeting Preparation Worksheet and Sample Agenda
  Establishing clear goals and strategic planning before meeting with stakeholders can ensure that the opportunity to meet is used effectively. This guide can be used to help you prepare for an upcoming meeting. A template for an agenda is also included.
• Planning Tool
• Readiness Tool

DHS-Related Resources for FFT, MST, and MTFC Programs

Starting Services Quickly 
A resource for FFT providers and stakeholders who are looking to decrease wait time for at risk youth and families. Includes resources related to Special Grant funding, accessing and utilizing M.A. funding (including Frequently Asked Questions, key contacts, and a list of Health Choices Behavioral Health Primary Contractors), and the Juvenile Justice Systems Enhancement Strategy. These resources are Pennsylvania-specific.

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is an empirically grounded family intervention program for dysfunctional and at-risk youth aged 11-18 and their families, including youth with problems such as conduct disorder, violent acting-out, and substance abuse. Youth often also present with additional comorbid challenges such as depression. 

Intervention is conducted in clinic settings, as outpatient therapy, and as a home-based model, including delivery in schools, child welfare, probation, parole/aftercare, and mental health, and as an alternative to incarceration or out-of-home placement. Treatment ranges from, on average, 8-12 one-hour sessions up to 30 sessions of direct service for more difficult situations. Treatment has specific phases that serve to organize intervention in a coherent manner, thereby allowing clinicians to maintain focus in the context of considerable family and individual disruption.

Clinical trials have demonstrated that FFT is capable of effectively treating adolescents with Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, alcohol and other drug abuse disorders, and those who are delinquent and/or violent. FFT interrupts the matriculation of these adolescents into more restrictive, higher-cost services, reduces their penetration of social services and the adult criminal system, and prevents younger siblings from entering the system of care.

National Site: Functional Family Therapy