This article addresses the need for communities to develop integrated service systems for troubled children and youth. The varieties of educational services presently offered are reviewed and found to be inadequate. An integrated service system is proposed, comprised of personal services, services for caregivers and families, educational and…

This article highlights key features of Multisystemic Therapy (MST), a treatment designed to empower caregivers with the skills and resources needed to address behavioral problems and to teach coping skills to youth. The supervisory, consultation, and program practices that support therapist implementation of MST in community-based settings are…

This report proposes creation of a flexible and coordinated system for delivery of comprehensive community-based services to Minnesota children with emotional and behavioral disorders. The proposal calls for the state to support multiagency Local Collaboratives with: (1) legislation that grants local communities certain powers in exchange for…

This article outlines problems associated with large mental hospitals, describes how knowledge gained from these problems can be used to create alternative treatment programs, and introduces the papers in this special issue on community-based treatment programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. (JDD)

The paper addresses issues in providing community services for people with both mental retardation and emotional or behavioral disorders. First, it explores the meaning often found at the root of the often elusive definition of dual diagnosis concluding that this has become a catch-all category for people who present existing service systems with…

This report is a comprehensive description of Minnesota's children's mental health system. It is designed to provide background and guidance to the Children's Integrated Fund Task Force, to assist local coordinating councils, and to serve policymakers outside of mental health who are increasingly asked to consider problems from an interagency…

This document assists with the development of comprehensive, coordinated, school-linked services for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). Part 1 provides awareness of issues involved in creating comprehensive flexible programs for students with EBD. It begins with a discussion of specific problems: unserved students, cultural bias,…

Five articles address current teaching and programming practices in the education and treatment of behaviorally disordered youth. In "Down the Up Staircase: The Teacher as Therapist," P. Nichols explores the premise that teachers should not limit their potential as child helpers by excluding counseling and psychotherapeutic…

This examination of the needs of families with students who have emotional/behavioral disorders proposes that schools provide services in the areas of (1) community programs; (2) information services; (3) advocacy and resource use; (4) home and community parent/family training programs; and (5) parent/family support and counseling. (DB)