Act 906 of the 2001 session of the Arkansas legislature requires the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to conduct an annual evaluation of family preservation services. The Act specifies several types of services, including those designed to prevent the removal of children from their homes, facilitate the reunification of families with children who have been removed from their homes, and help children attain safe and appropriate permanent living arrangements in event that reunification does not occur. These services encompass virtually all activities performed by DCFS in its work with families and children. In this sense, any child or family that DCFS has assessed and/or for whom the agency has opened a case can be said to be in need of family preservation services.

This report addresses whether the assistance and services that children and their families receive lead to positive results.