EVALUATING A SOCIAL-WORK ENGAGEMENT APPROACH TO INVOLVING INNER-CITY CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES IN MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE

This article will focus on increasing the ability of social workers to provide mental health services to urban, low-income children and thei r caretakers. A conceptual model for understanding the process of enga gement will be presented Further a protocol for training social worker s to conduct first intentiew/engagement interviews and the results of a study evaluating its impact will be highlighted. One hundred seven c hildren and their families were randomly assigned to one of two condit ions: (I) first interviews trained in specific engagement skills and(2 ) other therapists within on urban mental health agency. Of the 33 chi ldren assigned to first interviewers, 29 (88%) came for a first appoin tment and 97% (n = 28) of those returned for a second appointment. In comparison, of the 74 clients assigned to the routine first interview condition, 47 (64%) came for an initial appointment and only 83% (n = 39) returned for a second appointment The average length of treatment during an 18-week study period for first interview subjects was 7.1 se ssions, as opposed to 5.4 sessions for the comparison group. The appli cations of this model for social work education are discussed.