Document Type
Report
Publication Date
8-1998
Abstract
The Coordinated Children's Service Initiative (CCSI) is a multi-agency effort to reduce out-of-home placements of children with emotional disabilities by creating locally coordinated systems of care. CCSI was conceived and planned by a team of State administrators and local providers convened by the State Office of Mental Health in the early 1990s. Since 1993, the State has funded county CCSI programs in three phases, supporting a total of 33 counties.
CCSI was based on the belief that there has been an over-reliance on out-of-home residential placements, the most restrictive and expensive form of treatment. Instead, CCSI was designed to promote community-based alternatives that support the care of children in family and family-like settings.
This study describes CCSI's implementation and examines its effectiveness. We used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative component we conducted on-site structured interviews with participants in the eight Phase 1 counties: Broome, Chemung, Monroe, Rockland, Schenectady, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester. In the quantitative component we analyzed placement data from the child welfare, education, juvenile justice, and mental health residential placement systems. We compared CCSI counties with non-CCSI counties and examined changes in placements over time, changes in placements by service system, and the potential cost savings of averted placements.
Recommended Citation
Center for Human Services Research, University at Albany, "Reforming the Delivery of Children's Services: A Study of the Implementation and Effects of the New York State Coordinated Children's Services Initiative" (1998). Children, Family & Elder Services Reports and Research Briefs. 4.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/chsr-cfes-reports-and-briefs/4
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