Background: There is a need to examine behavioral and mental health outcomes for children in out-of-home care across settings. Objective: Using a participatory research approach, researchers and agency personnel aimed to implement a program of scientific outcomes research in residential care settings. Data were used to examine children's…

The prevalence of weight problems among youth in general and youth in out-of-home care has been well documented; however, the prevalence of obesity/overweight among youth with high-incidence disabilities in more restrictive settings, such as residential care, has not been assessed. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of…

Objective: A randomized trial assessed the effectiveness of a 2-level strategy for implementing evidence-based mental health treatments for delinquent youth. Method: A 2 x 2 design encompassing 14 rural Appalachian counties included 2 factors: (a) the random assignment of delinquent youth within each county to a multisystemic therapy (MST) program…

Recent work suggests that out-of-home placements continue to be relatively common for youth with mental health problems, even within systems of care. The current work examines rates and predictors of movement back home and stability of reunifications. During the focal period, 1,778 youths experienced out-of-home placements; 61% moved back home,…

This article examines out-of-home placements for youth with mental health problems in community-based systems of care. Longitudinal data come from the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program. One third of youth residing at home when they enrolled in the system of care were…

Objective: The problems children have upon entering foster care can potentially explain prior research findings that frequent placement changes are associated with poor outcomes. This study sought to disentangle this cascading relationship in order to identify the independent impact of placement stability on behavioral outcomes downstream.…

An evaluation was conducted to determine the potential usefulness of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) with 97 children aged 7-17 years living in residential mental health facilities. Comparison with other measures of behavioral functioning suggests the utility of the CBCL for evaluating children in residential placement settings. (SLD)