Family Assessment Response Signed into Law

Legislation makes Family Assessment Response Permanent

On June 1, 2011, New York State lawmakers passed legislation that would make permanent Family Assessment Response (FAR) within New York’s child protective system. Legislative action was required because the original FAR legislation, passed in 2007, was set to sunset on June 1, 2011. The new bill allows counties that have already implemented FAR to continue their important work, expands this alternative response in child protective services to other counties who choose to use it, including New York City, and makes the program permanent.

FAR offers flexibility for child protective services to provide immediate assessment and provision of services for some cases, while the traditional investigative track is required for reports where a child’s safety is of serious concern and reports of physical and sexual abuse. By allowing this flexibility, it supports the original intent of the law that created child protective services: to protect children and help families resolve problems that put their children at risk.

FAR focuses on family engagement and assistance. Services generally are short-term, directly provided, or through referral to agencies or others in the community. FAR allows for a response to a report of maltreatment that takes into account each family’s unique needs and strengths.

An evaluation report of the first FAR programs in the state concluded that a FAR response leads to improved satisfaction, increased linkages to needed services, a reduced need for traditional public child welfare services, and fewer petitions filed in Family Court. Families who received a FAR response were more likely to obtain services, especially those that meet basic family needs such as food, housing, utilities and other necessities. Surveys of families and caseworkers indicate this alternative to a traditional investigative approach is well received by both.

Read Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy's Policy Brief on FAR.