Improving Service Delivery for Children Affected by Trauma: An Implementation Study of Children’s Institute, Inc.

This report presents findings from a study of the Children’s Institute, Inc. (CII), a multiservice organization in Los Angeles that combines a broad range of clinical and nonclinical services to meet the needs of children and families who have been affected by trauma. It begins by explaining that each year, CII serves more than 20,000 children and family members, and that CII’s range of activities, which it calls its Integrated Service Model, serve the “whole child, entire family.” Through its service model, CII provides a broad range of supports that the child and family may need to overcome a history of abuse or trauma, including clinical services to address mental health needs, programs for parents and guardians to help them better support their children, and nonclinical youth development activities to help children and youth acquire protective factors. CII also operates child care and Head Start programs for young children. The CII evaluation had two main components: an implementation study of CII’s service model and a study of CII’s delivery of evidence-based practices, including an in-depth fidelity study of its Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) services. Findings indicate: CII is achieving its goal of engaging clients in multiple services to holistically meet their needs; analysis of management information system data indicates that nearly a third of the children engaged in clinical services received an evidence-based practice; analysis also indicates that the dosage levels of Functional Family Therapy and TF-CBT — two prominent evidence-based practices at CII — were both in line with model expectations; and the in-depth fidelity study of TF-CBT indicated that CII’s implementation of the treatment model was aligned with that of other community-based organizations in similar fidelity studies. 14 tables, 4 figures and numerous references. (Author abstract modified)