Data Shows Boys Town South Florida Services Provide Lasting Results

The data doesn’t lie – and this data is outstanding.

Boys Town South Florida recently received “re-abuse data” from the last fiscal year, which revealed that of the 94 families they served through In-Home Family Services (IHFS), not one of them reoffended – making their rate of re-abuse, zero.

Re-abuse rates represent the number of families who have a reoccurring offense (abuse, neglect substance abuse) after an initial incident requires an intervention by the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS).  

When these families are first brought to the attention to DCFS; whether that’s through a call to the abuse hotline, or other means, DCFS refers them to Boys Town South Florida if they live in the southern portion of Palm Beach County. 

When working with a family, Boys Town South Florida’s IHFS Consultants hit the ground running. “Our goal,” said Claudine Bolivar, IHFS Coordinator, “is to keep the children safely in the home and address issues that brought the family to the attention of the Department of Children and Family Services.”

The consultants are in the home providing resources and support up to three times a week, where they help with household management, setting a budget, parenting and communication skills. They offer tangible services, too, like rides to appointments, referrals for child care and help with substance abuse issues. They are also available 24 hours a day so they can help diffuse a situation or just lend a listening ear at any time.

While the re-abuse average varies nationwide and depends on many factors, Bolivar’s research estimates that between 6 and 8 percent of children are re-abused after being reunified with their families and/or receiving services, making Boys Town South Florida’s zero re-abuse rate even more remarkable. 

What makes Boys Town South Florida’s IHFS program so successful? According to Bolivar, it’s the consultants’ ability to build relationships with the families. “Our consultants focus on their strengths and build on that. It’s not based on their deficiencies,” said Bolivar.

With this approach, they’ve found that families are more engaged. By the end of services families are not only able to label the skills they were taught - like how to use praise and timeouts - they say they have felt really cared about, validated and understood by the consultants. 

Boys Town South Florida has already served 126 families in the current fiscal year; significantly more than the previous year. They are on pace to serve around 250 families by the fiscal year end.