Substitute care for a child at risk has been been associated with psychological distress in the child and his family and a drain on public finances. To investigate the cost effectiveness and ultimate influence on family intactness of home-based family crisis intervention, 77 low income, inner city families with an adolescent child at risk of placement into formal substitute care participated in a family intervention program for 8 to 10 weeks under one of three treatment modes: in home crisis intervention (IHC); IHC combined with didactic skill training; and IHC combined with a network approach. IHC is a generic brief therapy emphasizing structural family therapy, building parenting skills, exploring problem solving approaches, and improving family interaction patterns. Skill training involved communication, self-care, and stress management. The network mode helped families coordinate their existing support systems or helped them build support systems. Demographic, pre-post therapy information, and follow-up data were collected on all participants. An analysis of the results showed that at termination of treatment 88 percent of the families were intact, representing a savings of one half million dollars in public funds. The IHC network approach was most effective, accounting for the smallest percentage of out-of-home placements. However, the network approach was the most difficult to implement due to the threatening nature of outside involvement and the lack of counselor control over the client and his network. (BL)