MST is an Effective Evidence-Based Treatment

Many new treatments for juvenile offenders show promising results in research settings but when provided in a real-world setting they fail to yield the same results. Oftentimes, when new treatments are transported from the laboratory, they lose their effectiveness. Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an intensive family- and community-based treatment that addresses the multiple determinants of serious antisocial behavior in adolescents. MST has a strong research history demonstrating its effectiveness in reducing crime, violence, and substance use. Download a list of all published studies here. What’s more, MST has been successfully implemented in over 34 states and 15 countries, getting superior results for the youth and families it serves. 

Money earmaked for Evidence-Based Practices

It was only last June that South Dakota initiated a study on how to reduce the juvenile-incarceration rate. It was costing $140,000 a year for each youth commitment. Annual tuition at the University of South Dakota is only $13,904. And the returns on the commitment investment were not good. Forty percent of the adolescents were back with the Department of Corrections (DOC) three years after they were released.

Troubled Youth Goes From Hating to Loving School

(For the sake of confidentiality, the client is called “Joe” in the story.) 

Many times, the behaviors and circumstances surrounding cases referred to Multisystemic Therapy (MST) seem insurmountable. In Joe’s case, years of school refusal (since kindergarten), academic struggles and defiance made it seem as though finding the solution was akin to the proverbial needle in a haystack. However, the family, referral source and school had pinned their hopes on MST since it is designed to work with such intensive behavior. Despite the challenging task ahead of Catherine Cook, the MST therapist, she helped the family retrieve the missing needle that positively contributed to the family’s success of getting a 16-year-old boy back to a school and what’s more, a school where he has thrived academically and enjoyed attending.

See How MST helps Essex County Teens

Young people in the U.K. who enter social care typically have poor outcomes. They are more likely to re-offend, be suspended from school, and be unemployed by the time they turn 19. Out-of-home placement is also expensive for local authorities. They are responsible for children’s social care, but investing in prevention in times of austerity is challenging.

In 2012, there were 1,600 children in care in Essex County, and the number had risen by 28 percent over the previous five years. Essex County Council wanted to commission service with an evidence base for working with this group but was not in a position to take on the financial risk of failure. They decided to try Multisystemic Therapy (MST) to work with adolescent children on the verge of out-of-home placement. Two teams would handle 380 young people over five years. MST itself was not new to the U.K. What was new was a form of social investment called a Social Impact Bond (SIB). 

A Parent's Opinion of Police Presence in Schools 

My oldest child just turned 12. There are so many new experiences coming our way, rites of passage as she stands on the threshold of adolescence. She is bright, creative (read: dramatic), and loves school. We are lucky that her friends are polite, sweet, “good kids” with like-minded parents.

The age of 12 represents a lot for me as a parent. Not only are the teen years less than a year away, but my daughter has started middle school—a setting where I can only worry more and protect her less from the trials of growing up. Elementary school was a little bubble, a protective cocoon where all the kids felt like part of our big family. As parents, we had the goal of protecting them all.

Middle school is different. My daughter told me that sometimes there are police in the school cafeteria to stop occasional fights. This revelation made me catch my breath. Gone is the protective bubble of those elementary-school years. I was horrified and completely torn.

Georgia Has Over 50% Decline in Juvenile Out of Home Placement

The state of Georgia saw impressive declines in out-of-home placements of juvenile offenders during the first nine months of a statewide initiative that implemented evidence-based practices led by Gov. Nathan Deal. According to the “Report of the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform 2015” released early this year, “Among the counties participating . . . felony commitments and placements . . . dropped more than 62% statewide over a nine-month period ending in October 2014, dramatically exceeding the 15% goal set when the grants were awarded.”

5^th time’s the charm with support from both sides of the aisle

You might think that after introducing a bill four times over the course of eight years, its sponsor would give up. Not so for Rep. Bobby Scott. The Democrat from Virginia has reintroduced the Youth Promise Act for the fifth time. After previously not reaching the House floor for a vote, the prospects for it being passed look good.

MST therapist works with all systems surrounding child to keep him at home, in school and out of trouble.

Andrew was living with his grandmother and had lost touch with his absent parents. He fought verbally and physically with his older sister, and his grandmother did not know how to intervene. She was seeking placement for him outside the home in order to get him help for his behaviors. At school, Andrew was disruptive in classes, fought with peers, and threatened teachers, resulting in the school taking steps toward a long-term suspension from school. He was on a diversion contact with the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), and the Court Counselor (CC) was planning to take Andrew to court to increase the level of supervision because of his aggressive behaviors. In other words, Andrew was on the brink of being placed outside the home, and things needed to change quickly. 

Tell us your story

We Are Running Another Contest.

Celebrate the achievements of your agency, therapists, and families. Send in their stories. Win a $100 Travel Visa Money Card (which works internationally). Get read on the MST blog, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Even if you don’t win, you get an MST T-shirt.

Send your entries by June 30 to Lori.Cohen@mstservices.com. Make sure to put, success story contest in the subject line. 

Let your teams and colleagues know about the contest. Recognition is a good thing.  

Why implementing evidence-based practices is a good choice

Let’s start by being honest—it’s hard to implement Evidence-based Practices (EBPs). However, keep in mind, it’s even harder to start an unscripted practice even with the most well-intentioned service providers, rely on the limited scope of implementation expertise in many jurisdictions or shoot in the dark hoping for outcomes that may not even target the needs in your local community.

Just for argument’s sake, consider several alternatives. Without implementing an evidence-based practice, most jurisdictions or agencies will be doing business as usual. In other words, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This is a common definition of insanity. Agencies and jurisdictions might have great ideas about helping youth that never get to implementation because there is no real plan. (Most evidence-based practices come with a plan.) They may have a few stellar “go-to” clinicians, but what happens when they go? Individual clinician’s practices often can’t be replicated. (EBPs give you options for sustaining good practices with many different practitioners over time.)

Jurisdictions probably won’t know the longer-term outcomes of the youth in their care at the individual case level and certainly not at the aggregate system-impact level. (Most evidence-based practices come with data-collection tools and useful ways to monitor outcomes for practitioners and systems.)