Coordination of mental health services in children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) has shown a preliminary relationship to positive outcomes in children. Yet, research in this area is sparse. Therefore, the relation between service coordination activities and adaptive functioning was examined for 51 children SED who were treated in the…

We describe cases from the clinical records in the Intensive Mental Health Program to illustrate the diverse presenting problems, intervention strategies, therapeutic process, and outcomes for children receiving services in this school-based, community-oriented treatment model. Cases reflect varying degrees of treatment response and potential…

We provide information about consumer and provider perceptions using a mixed-model pilot study within the Intensive Mental Health Project (IMHP), a school-based treatment service for children with SED and their families. Caregiver, youth, and provider questionnaires developed for this project elicited quantitative and qualitative information on…

We investigated the use of a popular measure, the Children and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS), in treatment outcome research. The sample included 70 children who had been discharged from an elementary therapeutic classroom (Intensive Mental Health Program). Significant relationships were found between decreases in CAFAS scores and…

In order to meet the challenging needs and behaviors of children with Serious Emotional Disorders (SED), a school and community based Intensive Mental Health Program (IMHP) was developed and evaluated. We describe the conceptual framework, treatment principles, and model for service delivery for psychological and educational interventions under…

The Intensive Mental Health Program meets the needs for services in school systems for children with serious emotional disturbances and for training graduate students in clinical applications with a difficult-to-serve population. We address the range of challenges and rewards experienced in the development of the comprehensive intervention…

We examined factors related to treatment responders (n = 35) and nonresponders (n = 16) in a group of 51 children admitted to the Intensive Mental Health Program (IMHP). Children's response to treatment was coded based on their functioning at intake and discharge using total CAFAS scores. Demographic variables, length of treatment, number of…

We describe changes in adaptive functioning for children enrolled in the Intensive Mental Health Program (IMHP), an innovative model for serving children with the most severe forms of SED. Most children show marked improvements in multiple indicators of role performance and symptomatology. Although a high risk, high need group, most children…

This article describes the development, implementation, and preliminary evaluation of a school-based Intensive Mental Health Program (IMHP) for 50 children (42 boys, 8 girls) with severe, early-onset, serious emotional disturbances (SED). Eighty-four percent of the children showed clinically significant improvement in overall functioning as…