Strengths Model for Youth (SM-Y) Case Management: Initial Findings on Youth Outcomes

Case management is a widely utilized service in both youth and adult outpatient community mental health settings. Despite its widespread use, previous findings suggest that youth case management often lacks empirically tested models or frameworks. This article presents the results of a pilot study that involved adapting the Strengths Model, an adult case management model, for the child and adolescent outpatient community mental health population. The newly adapted model, known as the Strengths Model for Youth (SM-Y), was implemented in an urban community mental health center across five different youth case management teams. To assess changes over time in youth receiving SM-Y case management, marginal maximum likelihood multilevel modeling with adaptive Gaussian quadrature methods was applied. The study focused on three domains: socialization, education, and hospitalization. Utilizing the logit link function and Bernoulli conditional distribution due to the binary nature of the outcome data, three individual trajectories were drawn for socialization, education, and hospitalization. Positive findings indicated increases in socialization and educational performance among children and adolescents.

"I Ran to Make a Point": Predicting and Preventing Youth Runaway from Foster Care

Youth who run away from foster care experience danger to health and safety and increased risk of adverse child welfare outcomes. By applying a concurrent mixed-methods approach, this study aimed to develop a deeper understanding of runaway risk that used a person-centered lens and amplified youth voices. Collectively, this approach can inform service innovations to support youth placed in out-of-home care. Working with a foster care agency in Kansas, data sources comprised administrative data for youth ages 12 + in care, and interview data with 20 youth, 12 + in care. Quantitative analyses involved latent class analysis followed by multinomial logistic regression to investigate whether the population of youth in care was comprised of subpopulations with differential runaway risk and whether subpopulations would predict runaway behaviors. Qualitative analyses applied modified analytic inductive thematic analysis to explore critical life experiences that may act as risk or protective factors of running away from care. Results revealed four sub-populations which were characterized by their previous family and system experiences. Additionally, class membership, gender, number of siblings, and age were statistically significant predictors of runway behaviors. Youth interviews revealed five key themes on life experiences that mitigate or exacerbate youths' runaway behaviors. Recommendations resulting from this study were provided in three key areas: (1) improving family visitation and maintaining youth connections with self-identified family and non-relative kin; (2) supporting service approaches for youth that honor and amplify their voices, choices, and family connections; and (3) improving placement quality and individualization of services.

A qualitative exploration of caregivers' experiences with the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) parenting program

In the face of childhood adversity, services and interventions can improve a child's life trajectory by promoting healthy development, enhancing protective factors, and building resilience through stable and supportive relationships. One such service, a specific and highly researched home visiting intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), is often provided to families through home visiting service programs. This qualitative descriptive study examines the experiences of caregivers (N = 18) who received ABC as part of a statewide early childhood initiative in one midwestern state. Participants provided insight into the context of their lives before and during the intervention. They described their perspectives of the utility of the program and its influence on their family's behaviors and interactions. Findings demonstrate that coaching support bolstered caregivers' confidence in effective strategies and guided them through caregiving challenges. Caregivers observed growth in their caregiving practices, their infants' and young children's social and emotional skills, and their dyadic caregiver-child relationships, demonstrating the benefits of participating in and completing the ABC intervention.

Evidence Based Practice in Systems of Care for Children with Complex Mental Health Needs

Purpose: Community-based social work with families and youth with complex behavioral health needs highlights challenges to incorporating empirical evidence into routine practice. This article presents a framework for integrating evidence in community-based Systems of Care for these children and their families.Method: This article reviews research on various approaches to integrating evidence into children's behavioral health and community-based care and contextualizes it within dominant paradigms of Systems of Care (SoC) and Wraparound principles.Results: Based on this review, this article proposes the Evidence-Based Practice in Systems of Care (EBP in SoC) model. The model describes how to incorporate evidence into every aspect of community-based SoCs for children with mental health concerns.Discussion and Conclusion: Discussion of the model will focus on implications of using the framework for practitioners, mental health organizations, communities, and state and federal administration and policymaking.