Students with emotional and behavioral disorders served in alternative educational settings (e.g., residential treatment facilities) have been exposed to traumatic events at higher rates compared to their peers. Due to the significance of the need for connection with safe, healthy adults, in healing from past traumatic experiences and developing…

Children and youth with high behavioral health needs can receive care in a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF). Overutilization of PRTFs is concerning because they are highly restrictive and costly residential care settings. Intensive Alternative Family Treatment (IAFT®) is an intensive therapeutic foster care program combined with…

Youth with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) within residential treatment facilities have a variety of needs (e.g., academic, behavioral, social-emotional). A concerted effort is required to address these areas of need so that youth can develop their skills to be successful within their present and future settings. In chapter…

Wraparound is a care coordination model that has shown effectiveness for serving children and youth with significant emotional and behavioral health needs and their families. The current study evaluates a statewide wraparound demonstration with the goals of reducing the use of residential care and increasing access to outpatient mental health…

When children return home from residential treatment for behavioral challenges, continuity of care is clinically advised and empirically supported. If parents lack the skills to support this transition, a child's treatment gains may be at risk. Parenting difficulties can initiate oppositional and avoidant behaviors in children, and if sustained,…

Many students who have experienced complex trauma receive special education services related to emotional and behavioral disorders at residential treatment facilities (RTFs) as they undergo therapy. One academic skill in which students with emotional and behavioral disorders often struggle is writing. The current multi-probe, multiple-baseline,…

Two functionally-indicated choice-making interventions were implemented by a classroom teacher to determine the effects on the percentage of task completion, accuracy, and classroom disruption for 9 sixth through eighth grade participants with emotional and behavioral disorders in a residential math classroom using a reversal design. Results…

There has been ongoing concern about the negative impact of residential treatment on youth in care. Research examining the impact of negative peer influence in juvenile justice, education, and residential care settings is reviewed. A study was conducted to examine the impact of negative peer contagion on the level of problem behavior in a…

The Habitat Program at Wood's Homes, Calgary, Alberta, is an eight bed residential treatment program for conduct-disordered youth who have been exposed or subjected to high levels of violence in their family home. The program was based on the assumption that working effectively with such youth requires consideration of the background experiences…

Check-in, check-out (CICO) is a secondary-tier intervention with proven utility for reducing problem behaviors and increasing responsiveness to primary-tier expectations of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). CICO has been investigated at the elementary and middle school levels in traditional school settings with students both…

The Check in/Check out (CICO) strategy is a secondary tier intervention designed to address those students who are not responsive to universal tier, school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SW-PBIS), and require more targeted support. The present study extended the implementation of the CICO strategy to a residential facility.…

Students with attention and behavior problems oftentimes experience difficulty finishing academic work. On-task behavior is frequently cited as a primary reason for students' failure to complete homework assignments. Researchers have identified self-monitoring and self-management of on-task behavior as effective tools for improving homework…

Research has shown a positive correlation between time spent on homework and learning. However, students often engage in off-task behaviors to escape the demands of homework. Youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are especially likely to engage in off-task behaviors. Effective interventions to increase on-task behavior during homework…

Evaluation of a training procedure to improve staff skills in the preventative and reactive management of severely challenging behaviors in a small residential treatment unit found reduced (though not statistically significant) behavioral incidents, use of major reactive strategies (restraint and emergency medication), and staff and resident…

A total of 79 boys with behavior disorders were assigned to Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) or Group Care. Data at 1 year post-discharge showed that boys in MTFC had significantly fewer arrests, engaged in fewer delinquent activities, spent fewer days incarcerated, and ran away from their placements less often. (Contains references.)…