Behavior of direct care staff serving clients with mental retardation in 13 units of a large state-operated residential facility was observed. Results indicated that the activities of direct-care staff were influenced by the client's functioning level, the presence of professional staff, the location of the observation, and the resident- staff…

Interviews conducted twice over a 2.5-year period with 62 parents of adult children with mental retardation living in their home found that support resources played a role in reducing perceived caregiving burden and in determining parents' future out-of-home placement preferences for their adult child. (Author/JDD)

Discusses the growing waiting lists for residential services for persons with developmental disabilities due to the increase of individuals needing services, increased longevity, low service creation in the past, and because services have become more compatible with what people want. Recommendations for reducing waiting lists are provided. (CR)

Describes retrospective study of 100 consecutive referrals of females who offend to an Adolescent Forensic Mental Health Services. Referrers were found to have only correctly documented violent and aggressive behavior in 54% of the cases. Seventy-one of the girls had been abused, the majority having been multiply abused. Of the violent girls, 50%…

Forty-one special education professionals and classroom aides, 47 residential care staff, and 74 high school students rated the treatment acceptability of three forms of physical restraint. A chair method of restraint was rated as more acceptable than other floor restraint methods by all three groups. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A study investigated whether youth (n=99) discharged from a short-term residential facility and reunited with their parents had a subsequent placement. The number of self-reported personal problems at intake significantly predicted a shorter time to subsequent placement disruption. The number of prior formal placements also tended to predict…

Seventy-two members of staff working in children's residential units in a local authority were surveyed to elicit their experiences and evaluations of working with child mental health professionals. While the majority of staff held few or no formal educational qualifications, they emerged as an experienced group, with a level of confidence in…

The costs, nature, and benefits of residential supports were examined for 20 adults with severe disabilities living in newly built residential campuses and 20 adults living in small community-based dispersed housing schemes. Participants living in dispersed housing schemes enjoyed significantly greater quality of care and quality of life.…

A 1998 survey found a 40 percent reduction (to nine) in the number of Scottish local-authority residential outdoor education centers operating since the reform of local government in 1996. Data also covered staff, funding, areas of outdoor education provided, pupils' affective and social development, and environmental education. (Contains…

The Teaching Family program is one of the most extensively researched models for residential care. A major meta-analysis found that the Teaching Family Model (TFM) was one of the five most consistently effective treatments for delinquents. However, two recent publications imply that behaviorally based and/or group treatments might be harmful.…

This intervention targets distortions in thinking which contribute to conflict with students and staff. After numerous assault charges in her school, June was placed in residential treatment. During her first sixty days, she experienced several crisis situations which included assaults on staff and students, physical restraints, and eventual…

A distinction is made between objective and subjective assessment when quality of life evaluation is considered. The aim was to explore the association between objective and subjective appraisals within similar quality of life domains. Correlations between scores on objective and subjective quality of life measures concerning choice, activity and…

In large residential treatment centers for adolescent youth, program administrators and clinical staff rely on the information imparted to them by direct care staff to make appropriate decisions regarding administrative and clinical support functions so that the residents in care can receive the best treatment possible. This study was designed to…

A growing body of literature demonstrates the co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder for females seeking substance abuse treatment. Nonetheless, relatively few trauma-specific treatments have been implemented or evaluated with this population. In this quasi-experimental study (N = 170), the Trauma Recovery and…

The present paper reviews literature on older youth in foster care with a focus on those older youths in residential. We aim to examine what has been written in the scholarly literature about this specific group. Literature was reviewed from the last decade on the problems these youths face and potential solutions for them in the program…