Background: Systems of care is a family centered, strengths-based service delivery model for treating youth experiencing a serious emotional disturbance. Wraparound is the most common method of service delivery adopted by states and communities as a way to adhere to systems of care philosophy. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate…

This study examines the use of family education and support (FES) services within community-based mental health systems. Using data from the national evaluation of the Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI), 2,853 caregivers and their children ages 6 to 18 years from 39 communities participated in this study. The findings indicated that during…

Objective: To describe characteristics and outcomes of youth aged 7 to 17 who received inpatient psychiatric and mental health services along different clinical pathways of a new service delivery model. Method: Participants included 211 admissions to an inpatient crisis stabilization and assessment program over a one-year period. Standardized…

This paper presents baseline data on students (mean age 10 years) with severe emotional disturbances at four public schools, two in Kentucky and two in Vermont, who will be followed in an evaluation of the application of a coordinated, community-based system of care operating in both states. Data are summarized concerning the service systems…

This study examined whether parent reports of their child's service use are more reliable in a family-focused delivery system than in more typical service environments. Data were obtained through the Fort Bragg Evaluation Project, a longitudinal assessment of a managed care model for delivering mental health services to children and adolescents.…

This brief paper summarizes three papers and a response presented at a symposium examining longitudinal comparison studies of federally funded community mental health services (CMHS) for children and their families. Emphasis was on comparing the system of care approach to a more traditional approach. The symposium provided an update on the status…

This study reports three-year, service-utilization patterns of the Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP)--an innovative school mental health program that uses nonprofessional child-aides as help-agents with maladapting primary graders. The PMHP model delivers, with relatively small cost increments, approximately 10 times more service than…

The longitudinal comparison study of the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program assesses factors in service delivery systems that may shape the impact of systems of care. We evaluated the extent to which services embodying the principles of a system of care, as measured by…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. In the article summarized in this "Data Trends" the authors compare outcomes for two groups of children and adolescents receiving mental health services either under a system of care arrangement, or under more traditional…