SOCW 6111

Chapter 2 Intervention With Children

Mary C. Ruffolo and Paula Allen-Meares

Purpose: This chapter identifies key evidence-informed practices that are emerg- ing for children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families across child-serving systems. Rationale: To educate readers about interventions that will help children who are at risk for emotional and behavioral problems in order to confront adversity and promote resiliency. This is a critical task facing social workers across the child-serving systems. How evidence-informed practice is presented: This chapter focuses on evidence-based practice (EBP) under two main categories: (1) evidence- informed individual child and family interventions and (2) schoolwide/ community interventions. Overarching questions: How can students and practitioners identify interven- tions that work for children and families and critically analyze and evaluate these interventions? What common elements across these EBPs promote pos- itive outcomes for a range of children and families experiencing emotional or behavioral challenges?

The purpose of this chapter is to identify key evidence-based practices (EBPs) that are emerging for children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families across child-serving systems. The chapter explores the challenges in developing and implementing EBPs. The EBPs reviewed are organized under two main categories: (1) evidence-based individual child and family interventions and (2) schoolwide/community interventions. For each intervention reviewed, the key components of the intervention are presented as well as the status of the empirical evidence to support this intervention with targeted child populations. Two key questions that emerge for practitioners and students are:

1. How to best capture the interventions that work for children and families and to critically analyze and evaluate these interventions?

2. What common elements across these EBPs can promote positive outcomes for a range of children and families experiencing emotional or behavioral challenges?

Intervening in the lives of children and their families is a challenging and dynamic process. Selecting evidence-based interventions that will help children who are at risk for emotional and behavioral problems to

41 Holosko, M. J., Dulmus, C. N., Sowers, K. M., & Sowers, K. M. (2013). Social work practice with individuals and families : Evidence-informed assessments and interventions. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from waldenu on 2021-11-02 18:57:30.

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42 Social Work Practice With Individuals and Families

confront adversity and promote resiliency is a critical task facing social workers across the child-serving systems. Protecting children from harm and poor developmental outcomes involves targeting not only the child’s behavior but also the family, school, and neighborhood environments that often contribute to challenges that the child faces. Interventions that evolve into EBPs can facilitate the process of promoting positive outcomes for children in need of treatment in real-world settings. Although children who are at risk for emotional or behavioral problems often experience impaired functioning at home, in school, or in their neighborhoods, EBP provides hope that these youth will experience better outcomes in many of these functioning areas.

Recent reports from the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003), the U.S. Surgeon General (1999, 2001), and the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2009) highlight the need to improve mental-health services for children and their families by developing and using more evidence-based interventions and addressing prevention and early intervention for mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among youth. Several federal and national organizations have developed lists of evidence-based or empirically supported interventions for work with children and their families in order to promote the use of those that have demonstrated success. For example, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) compiled an expert consen- sus review of published and unpublished evaluations and a web-based listing of science-based prevention programs that may be replicated. It grouped these programs as models, effective, and promising practices (www.nrepp.samhsa.gov).

This chapter examines the development of EBPs with children at risk of emotional and behavioral problems, summarizes EBPs that are currently being used across child-serving systems, explores the limitations of implementing EBP interventions, and discusses the implications for social work intervention practice with children who are at risk for emotional and behavioral problems and who face adversity.

Development of EBPs for Children at Risk for Emotional or Behavioral Problems

The current child-serving systems have evolved from primarily institutional-based systems to community-based systems of care for children and their families. Although more children are served in community-based programs, the majority of expenditures on services for children are for institutional-based services (U.S. Surgeon General, 1999). Most children receiving intervention services in institutional-based settings are in residential treatment programs operated through the child-welfare or juvenile-justice systems (Lyons, 2004). Although little evidence exists to support residential treatment approaches in work with children, there is some evidence that indicates these approaches actually harm instead of helping children (Dishion, Bullock, & Granic, 2002).

Holosko, M. J., Dulmus, C. N., Sowers, K. M., & Sowers, K. M. (2013). Social work practice with individuals and families : Evidence-informed assessments and interventions. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from waldenu on 2021-11-02 18:57:30.

C o p yr

ig h t ©

2 0 1 3 . Jo

h n W

ile y

& S

o n s,

I n co

rp o ra

te d . A

ll ri g h ts

r e se

rv e d .