Assessment and modification of home cleanliness among families adjudicated for child neglect.

Three families who had lost custody because of filthy homes got weekly home visits. The team taught parents to use a simple checklist called CLEAN. They gave praise and small rewards when rooms passed.

Workers modeled scrubbing, handed over the sponge, and cheered each win. They faded help as parents got the hang of it.

Every family raised their CLEAN scores. Kitchens and bathrooms stayed clean after the team stopped coming.

No new neglect reports were filed during the study.

Dunn (1990) wrote the first guide on behavioral neglect treatment two years later. It lists the 1988 cleanliness package as a core example.

Perez et al. (2015) later moved the same in-home coaching idea to autism families. They kept the live practice and praise, but swapped the CLEAN checklist for the PTR plan.

Lancioni et al. (2008) used the same reward-plus-schedule trick to fix toilet accidents in one child. Both studies show that small daily rewards beat big lectures.

If you serve court-involved parents, bring a checklist and a roll of paper towels. Show the exact wipe pattern, let the parent do the next swipe, and praise on the spot. You can see a safer home in four visits.