Intensive home-based programs for youth with serious emotional disturbances: A comprehensive review of experimental findings

Abstract

Intensive home-based programs for youth with serious emotional disturbances operate in nearly every state andoccupy a critical position in the continuum of care: the threshold between community retention and institutionalplacement. Despite their ubiquity and in contrast to research on home-based interventions for other populations,there is a relative dearth of empiricalfindings describing the efficacy of such interventions with youth withserious emotional disturbances and their families. The present paper offers a comprehensive review of experi-mental and quasi-experimental studies in thisfield. Taken together, the results of these studies suggest thatintensive home-based interventions can effectively improve children's emotional and behavioral impairment,particularly from caregivers' perspectives. Involving state partners in large-scale, multi-outcome studies mayfurther elucidate mechanisms of change and establish benchmarks that allow for more conclusive comparisonsbetween treatment alternatives.