A systematic review of common elements of practice that support reunification

A proliferation of programs and interventions aim to promote permanency for children and young people in contact with the child welfare system. Many are manualized and evaluated at the program-level rather than at practice-level. Interest is growing in the common elements approach, to determine which individual program components are most useful for informing practice. This paper draws from the findings of a systematic review that assessed current research on permanency programs and utilized a common elements approach to identify practices that support permanency via reunification, guardianship or adoption. The focus of this paper is on practice elements that are common for supporting parents towards reunification. Twelve publications met inclusion criteria: seven experimental (randomized controlled trial) studies, two quasi-experimental studies, and three pretest–posttest studies. From these, 10 programs were identified that aim to build the capacity of parents undertaking reunification efforts to promote their children’s safety, stability, and security. Using content analysis, a total of eight distinct practices in reunification programs were identified; these practices applied a structured and individualized approach to improve parent–child interactions and build parent skills to recognize and respond to child behavioral issues. The common elements approach reveals the components of evidence-based interventions to support reunification and can be useful for tailoring interventions, developing frameworks, upskilling workforce and identifying effective practices within existing interventions.