DEVELOPMENTAL AND EVALUATION OF TREATMENT FOSTER-CARE AND FAMILY-CENTERED INTENSIVE CASE-MANAGEMENT IN NEW-YORK

In response to a national call for states to shift from an overrelianc e on restrictive treatment modalities to community-based systems of ca re and to the needs identified by the families of children with seriou s emotional disturbance (SED), the New York State Office of Mental Hea lth has developed Family-Centered Intensive Case Management (FCICM) as part of a research demonstration project. FCICM is intended to empowe r and support families with children with SED. Staffed by a case manag er and parent advocate, FCICM includes respite care, flexible service money, parent support groups, and behavior management skills training. In this study, which had positively controlled experimental condition s, children who were referred for treatment foster care in three rural New York counties were randomly assigned to FCICM or treatment foster care. The present article compares and contrasts the program elements of FCICM and the treatment foster care models, provides an overview o f the research design and methods, describes the children and families served, and examines program implementation issues.