Download or read book Family and Child Factors in Community Mental Health Treatment written by Theresa Riggs Seitz and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation is an examination of bidirectional treatment effects of family and child strength and problem factors in community systems of care. The federally-funded national evaluation of the Children's Mental Health Initiative was designed to evaluate child-centered systems of care whose programs are to be family-driven, culturally competent, and to draw on the strengths, resources and adaptiveness of both the child and family (Stroul & Friedman, 1986). This is a secondary analysis of national evaluation data using traditional risk-based and strength-based measures. Analyses measures include the Child Behavior Checklist Competencies and Total Problems scores, Youth Self-Report Competencies and Total Problems scores, Family Assessment Device caregiver and youth reports, Family Resource Scale, Caregiver Strain Questionnaire, Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale, the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale, and measures of family and child risk factors. The population investigated consists of children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) and their caregivers who participated in two phases of the 1993-2001 national evaluation of the CMHI. Children with SED were referred through community mental health centers, schools and juvenile justice and social services. Data were collected by means of caregiver and child interviews conducted at intake and at six month intervals to three years in treatment. Confirmatory and longitudinal analyses revealed the robustness of the strengths and problems constructs over time, as well as the appropriateness of the modified hypothesized relationships for this data. Some additional relationships among variables were identified and discussed. Implications for treatment of children with SED and their families were discussed. Treatment strategies might include identifying and validating the similarities and differences among caregivers' and children's views of family and child problems and strengts in order to arrive at common goals for treatment. This family collaboration approach to problem-solving mirrors the system of care collaborative approach to providing services.