A Randomized Controlled Trial to Test the Use of an Existing Funding Stream to Finance an Extension of Functional Family Therapy to a Gang Population

Gang membership appears to facilitate increased involvement in violence and serious delinquency.  In light of this, it is imperative to identify effective programs to reduce the level of gang membership and the impact that gang membership has in facilitating antisocial behaviors. Unfortunately, there are few gang intervention programs that meet current standards for evidence. There are, however, evidence-based programs (e.g., those identified by the Blueprints for Violence Prevention project) that have been shown to reduce violence, delinquency, and drug use. The purpose of this project is to implement and rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), a Blueprint model program, to determine whether it is effective in reducing gang membership among high risk youth and delinquency among current gang members.

This study also demonstrates a mechanism for disseminating evidence-based program models using two existing public funding streams: Medical Assistance (MA, Medicaid) and Special Grants funded through the participating county’s needs based budget, administered by the Department of Human Services. The study will document how these mechanisms are used in Philadelphia to fund direct services that are evidence-based. 

The poster presentation provides an overview of the project rationale, history, design, and progress to date.  Information will be presented on the randomized controlled trial as it is being implemented in Philadelphia. The subjects are court-involved males aged 11-17 who are either current gang members or are at risk for joining gangs. Eligible subjects are randomly assigned to receive a gang-enhanced FFT intervention or treatment as usual.

The research is expected to produce a program model that is ready for broad dissemination, an existing dissemination mechanism, and a model for how public agencies can utilize EBPs using existing funding streams. Given recent estimates that more than 730,000 gang members reside in the U.S., this product is expected to have a large impact on community uptake of the model.