Evaluation of Place-Based Family Services Intervention to Prevent Child Maltreatment and Support Successful Parenting: Bester Community of Hope (BCOH)

Background/Purpose: Bester Community of Hope (BCOH) is a place-based initiative developed by San Mar Family and Community Services to deliver prevention-focused services to children and families residing in Hagerstown, MD. The BCOH model intends to prevent child welfare services (CWS) involvement by blending family supportive case management, in-home services, place-based parent and community collaboratives, and concrete resources (CR). This comprehensive evaluation study sought to answer questions about the effectiveness of BCOH services: (1) What is the typical configuration of service provision, and does provision of CR relate to subsequent CWS involvement? (2) How do families experience BCOH services, and are services related to parent well-being and satisfaction?

Methods:

1. Data on service provisions (family-level) were extracted from BCOH’s Salesforce from 2016 to 2025 (n = 574 families referred to BCOH). Program type, referral source, referral reason, case status, CR, number of service spells, length of stay, and CWS involvement prior, during, and after BCOH were evaluated.
2. Parental well-being survey data (case-level) were collected at four timepoints (T1-T4) among new BCOH intakes (n = 21), and an exit survey (T5) was administered 3 months post transition. Of these, 13 participants completed the exit survey, and 11 participants completed all surveys.

Results:

1. 33% of BCOH families had CWS involvement prior to coming to BCOH. Top referral reasons were homelessness (25%), child support/welfare (22%), financial distress (17%), and mental health (14%). Most families who received services (72%) have only one service spell, averaging about 125 days; 75% of cases are closed due to successful transition. From 2016 to 2024, BCOH provided $340,797 in financial support to 285 families, averaging 10.3 resources/ $1,196 per family. The most common resources were transportation, holiday support, baby items, food, and clothing. The average CR was $116 per event. The logistic regression showed no significant relationship between CR receipts and post-CWS involvement; prior CWS involvement was the only significant predictor. An additional propensity score-matching analysis reaffirmed these findings. We created a new binary CR receipt variable (CR count ≥3, amount ≥$300, and monthly ≥$100) and limited the sample to 76 matched pairs (152 total) based on the number of previous CWS involvements. Neither CR-related variables nor length of stay were significantly associated with subsequent CWS involvement; only prior CWS involvement remained significant.
2. The majority of the participants who completed the survey were between the ages of 35 and 44 years old (61.54%), female (100%), had a high school degree or GED (53.85%), used English as a first language (84.62%), and rented a place for housing (53.85%). Financial stress significantly declined across five time points (fixed effect of time). The time effect on participant satisfaction showed a consistent upward trend.

Conclusions/Implications:

While causal reduction in maltreatment is not proven by this analysis, the synthesis of the many BCOH components demonstrates that community strengthening, flexible and concrete supports, and family-led engagement can succeed without rigid fidelity constraints. Short-term reductions in maltreatment substantiation or placement rates can build on this work to engage and support families.