Information Center Bulletin
Volume 3, No. 1 Spring 1999

Key CMHS Findings Show Positive Effects for Children

When children and youth with serious emotional disturbances are cared for in their communities, the children, their families, and their communities experience positive effects. Preliminary findings of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services Program for Children and Their Families, derived from national and local evaluations of the program’s current 31 sites,* demonstrate these positive effects:

• Mental health improves. The number of youth rated by their parents as having serious emotional disturbances and behavioral problems decreased by 27 percent in 6 months through the Multiagency Integrated System of Care Program in Santa Barbara County, CA.
• Failing and below-average grades decrease. The percentage of children with failing or below-average grades decreased by 16 percent in the national evaluation conducted across all sites.
• School grades improve. The percentage of children rated average or above average in school improved by 62 percent after 1 year of services through the Multiagency Integrated System of Care Program in Santa Barbara County, CA.
• School absences decrease. The percentage of children attending school less than half the time decreased by 41 percent in the national evaluation.
• Fewer crimes committed. In a 2-year study, the number of crimes committed by youth on probation was 61 percent less in the 12 months after entry in the Crossroads Program of San Mateo County, CA, compared with the 12 months before entry.
• Mothers’ unemployment reduced. Levels of unemployment among mothers were reduced by 23 percent after 1 year through the Multiagency Integrated System of Care Program in Santa Barbara County, CA.
• Acute psychiatric hospitalizations reduced. The average number of acute psychiatric hospitalizations among children and youth dropped 34 percent in 1997 after the Sonoma County, CA, program got underway. These reductions in hospitalization, down from the average 8.2 hospitalizations per month in 1995 and 1996, represented a cost savings of 48 percent.
• Lengths of residential stay reduced. A child’s average length of stay in a residential placement is now 112 days, a 58 percent decrease from the average 270 days before the Wraparound Program in Milwaukee began.
• Children stay in communities. Out-of-city placements for children with serious emotional disturbances have been reduced by 48 percent since the ACCESS Program in Alexandria, VA, began in 1995.
• Money saved. The average monthly cost for serving a child in a typical out-of-home residential placement is $4,449. The average monthly cost for caring for a child through the Wraparound Program in Milwaukee, WI, is $2,800, which represents a 37 percent cost savings.

For more information, contact the CMHS Child, Adolescent and Family Branch, 301-443-1333.

*Samples ranged from 1,488 to 1,780 youth and children across sites and from 27 to 178 at specific sites.

Information Center Bulletin
Volume 3, No. 1, Spring 1999