New Jersey Contracts with CFS to Coordinate Statewide Evaluation:
Over the past 20 years at both the federal and state levels, the implementation of community-based systems of care has been the predominant policy response to the challenge of offering appropriate services to children with serious emotional disturbances and their families. New Jersey finalized its plan to reform children’s mental health services in 2004, and in order to determine how the implementation of their reform compares with national best practices, the New Jersey Department of Human Services is conducting a comprehensive state-wide evaluation. Due to its long history of systems of care research, the Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) was contracted to coordinate the evaluation.
CFS's Mary Armstrong, a national expert in financing strategies for behavioral health services, serves as Principal Investigator for the Independent Assessment of New Jersey's Children's Behavioral Health System. Dr. Armstrong points out that this evaluation is unique because it brings together experienced researchers from CFS and external consultants with the appropriate expertise to carry out the diverse aspects of the evaluation.
The evaluation is organized to examine three levels: state-level system infrastructure for children’s mental health services, provider-level status and implementation of evidence-based and promising practices, and the individual child and family level. Activities include analysis of documents, data and reports, focus groups, key stakeholder interviews, and child and family quality reviews. Document reviews will incorporate materials from the state of New Jersey and national evaluation reports that identify current benchmarks and best practices in implementing systems of care.
" These goals and strategies will be the standards against which we can assess what has happened in New Jersey since the reform began," said Armstrong.
Don Policella, a CFS expert in state-level child welfare reform, is working with national consultant Beth Caldwell on the system level sub study. Areas to be assessed include the infrastructure for the reform and mechanisms for managing information, quality assurance and the reform’s financing strategies.
Karen Blase, widely known for research on implementation of evidence-based programs and practices, is the lead on the service provision analysis. Blase and staff from the National Implementation Research Network are gathering stakeholder information related to access to services, effectiveness and accountability of New Jersey’s behavioral health system, which will be assessed from the perspectives of child and family, provider, community, county and state. Stakeholders include state and regional directors of children’s mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities, as well as family leaders, advocates and members of the Legislature.
Carol Obrochta, a national consultant who is a parent of a child with serious mental health problems, is the key team member for the child and family level assessment. The quality review will include interviews of 30 direct service providers and parents/caregivers with a child with serious emotional disturbance who is receiving services from the system of care and is also involved with other child systems, such as child welfare, juvenile justice, or developmental disabilities. Areas being addressed are effectiveness of the system, treatment planning, quality of life, experiences with the system, and experiences outside the system.
Instruments used in the New Jersey evaluation incorporate many tools developed in recent years by CFS investigators to examine and describe community-based systems of care for children and families.
Mary Armstrong and staff will provide a final report the end of the evaluation, which will include policy and practice recommendations related to effective implementation of New Jersey’s children’s behavioral health reform. For additional information, contact Mary Armstrong at 813-974-4601.