FFT LLC is the dissemination organization for Functional Family Therapy. To maintain positive outcomes, FFT LLC provides clinical oversight and ongoing research to ensure that all FFT providers adhere to the evidence-based practice standards. FFT is an empirically grounded, well-documented, and highly successful family intervention for at-risk youth ages 10 to 18 whose problems range from acting out to conduct disorders to alcohol and/or substance abuse. Often these families tend to have limited resources, histories of failure, a range of diagnoses, and multi-system exposure. Since Dr. Alexander founded FFT in 1972, FFT has demonstrated positive program outcomes across a wide range of youth and communities;
•Significant and long-term reductions in youth re-offending and violent behavior,
•Significant effectiveness in reducing sibling entry into high-risk behaviors,
•Low drop-out and high completion rates, and
•Positive impacts on family conflict, family communication, parenting, and youth problem behavior. One of FFT’s hallmarks is its ability to fit an array of service delivery settings where at-risk adolescents are served. The robustness of the model has resulted in numerous adaptations of the traditional FFT model; as a case management practice for Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers (FFP), as a comprehensive Child Welfare intervention (FFT CW), and as part of a continuum of evidence-based programs within juvenile justice (Bluesky). The FFT model has been successfully replicated across the continuum of juvenile justice, mental health settings, and child welfare systems, from prevention and diversion type programs to aftercare and parole, as well as traditional drug and alcohol and school-based programs.
