Background: Family involvement is viewed as an important component of the treatment process for children in residential treatment centers, but little is known about the impact of contact with family members on changes in youth functioning. Objective: The goal of this study was to use administrative data to examine the association between family…

This article presents the findings from a longitudinal investigation of the prevalence of negative contact with the law for a sample of youth 12-18 months after graduating from residential and intensive children's mental health programming. Results of this study suggest serious community adaptation difficulties face many youth graduating from…

This report stems from a larger study on the outcomes of children and youth who accessed residential treatment or a home-based alternative. In this report an analysis of family descriptive information, the nature of family relationships, and indicators of family functioning for children and youth who have participated in children's mental health…

This descriptive case study reports on the positive impact of a consultative review methodology used to conduct quality assurance reviews as part of the Residential Treatment Center Evaluation Project. The study details improvement in the quality of services provided to youth in unmonitored residential treatment facilities. Improvements were…

A study compared 58 patients who were deaf and 168 hearing patients at a facility serving youth with psychological disturbances. All of the children who were deaf and admitted at age 12 or younger had strong or confirmed indications of sexual abuse and 85 percent of the adolescents. Residential facilities are described. (Contains references.)…

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) for assessing the functioning of youth with mental disorders. The CAFAS is a multidimensional tool used to record the extent to which a youth's mental health disorder is disruptive of functioning in each of five psycho-social areas: role…

A study examined the long-term (3 year) treatment outcomes of all adolescents (n=2,481) who received services in Vermont's statewide systems of care. Recipients of services had substantially elevated rates of incarceration and hospitalization but maternity rates in the treatment groups were not different from other young women. (Contains…

Discusses challenges to the mental health field as a result of severe economic change. The six articles deal with reindustrialization, the effect of the labor market on mental hospital and prison use, retrenchment strategies, mental health problems in energy boomtowns, and economic issues of public policy. (JAC)

This study examined specific behavioral characteristics of children in four different treatment environments by an Ohio child mental health agency, in order to shed light on placement decisions in relation to levels of care and severity of symptoms. Data were collected from approximately 300 total program admissions above age 5, each quarter, for…

Costs for caring for severely mentally disabled persons receiving housing subsidies and/or case management services or who were in a state hospital were compared in two Ohio counties. Comparisons for 82 persons found differences among community-based group settings, but the state hospital costs at least 3 times higher. (SLD)

A study investigated the outcomes of the Acute Children's Extended Services (ACES) program, a Salt Lake City, Utah, program designed to help children with emotional and behavioral disabilities reintegrate into the community from inpatient or residential care. The study examined outcomes of the ACES program within four domains: access, clinical…

Each year, substance abuse treatment programs in the United States record approximately 150,000 admissions of youths under the age of 18. Nevertheless, little is known about the effectiveness of the types of community-based services typically available to youths and their families. Recognizing the need for better information on the effectiveness…

At least two-thirds of the 3,000,000 seriously disturbed children and adolescents in the United States do not get the mental health services they need; countless others receive inappropriate care. This volume examines why the needs of troubled children and adolescents are not met and indicates what responsible officials, concerned advocates, and…

This study compiled descriptive data over 7 years on 812 school-age children with serious emotional disturbance (SED), including demographic and family characteristics, level of psychological and adaptive functioning, services received in either residential mental health treatment facilities or community-based special education programs, and…