Trauma-Focused Interventions for Youth in Residential Care: An Implementation Demonstration Pilot

Principal Investigator: Jerry Dunn, PhD, PI
Funder: Missouri Medicaid (MOHealtNet)

   Missouri Department of Mental Health
Timeframe: 03/06-02/09
Affiliation:  Center for Mental Health Services Research (CMHSR)

Affiliated Researchers:          Ramesh Raghavan, PhD

                                                David Juedemann, LCSW

                                                Matthew Kliethermes, PhD

Charlotte Bright, PhD

Project Contact:  Karen M. Oshima

                             koshima@wustl.edu

                             (314) 935-6605

                             

                             

Project Update as of 09/23/2009:
Stage:  Completed

This study is an implementation demonstration pilot, designed to uncover approaches to the implementation of an evidence-based practice (EBP) with adolescents in residential treatment. The sequenced trauma intervention consists of six to nine months of treatment using two modalities: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS). In this pilot project, a therapist from Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis provides the intervention to children resident in Evangelical Children’s Home, in the city of St. Louis.

A total of six youth, age 11-17, will participate in the intervention. Data are collected on trauma symptoms, youth behavior, and psychotropic medications at intake and every three months thereafter, until discharge. Results from this project are designed to inform mental health quality improvement efforts underway within the state of Missouri, and to provide the basis for future federally-supported studies that can test ways to successfully implement other EBPs in a variety of settings. The collaborations established with the various organizational and agency partners involved in the project can conceivably generate any number of additional research opportunities.

The aims of the project are: 1) to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing an evidence-based trauma-focused intervention among youth resident in a residential treatment facility; 2) to identify child-level factors associated with successful implementation of EBPs; and 3) to quantify the costs of implementing EBPs in residential treatment facilities.

This study is being conducted by a team from Evangelical Children’s Home (a residential treatment facility in St. Louis); Washington University in St. Louis; and the Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis affiliated with the University of Missouri St. Louis. State partners to this study include the Missouri Division of Medical Services, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health. The Children’s Division of St. Louis City and County has also provided consultation on this project.