Will Multisystemic Therapy work across the pond? 

When I was first introduced to MST about two years ago, I approached it with a healthy dose of caution. Among my questions were will what works in the U.S. translate to the U.K.? Do the positive outcomes reflect actual impact or clever evaluation? Does this service cherry-pick and therefore is guaranteed to get good outcomes? And as a licensed provider, will we be micro-managed by MST-UK? The program sounded very prescriptive, and I had the sense that it was “painting by numbers.”

My organization, Action for Children, is driven to ensure that all our services have a positive impact on children, young people, and their families. In addition, we have a growing interest in specific programs that are underpinned by a strong evidence base. Naturally, one of our primary charitable objectives is that our fundraised and contracted incomes are spent efficiently and effectively. 

Chance encounter brings joy and meaning to MST therapist

“Is he throwing rocks down the slide? He is. He’s throwing rocks down the slide. Maybe Bill will correct him...” My internal dialogue on whether to scold my 5-year-old nephew or wait for my husband didn’t last long. 

Whenever we babysit our nephews, Bill takes care of life-and-death situations. He makes sure to address those strongly and swiftly. Everything else? My domain. I spoke reluctantly, “Dylan, don’t throw rocks down the slide.” Typically, I’d give him a rationale. I’d explain that he could scratch or dent the slide, and he was holding up the children behind him. But I wanted to speak quickly, hoping that the moment wouldn’t be broken.

For juvenile offenders, it pays to think long-term

Communities invest in a portfolio of services. Each service has a cost and is used to meet a certain need. Think of it as any financial investment. Communities must make sure that the current service portfolio continues to meet the ever-changing requirements in their fluctuating financial environment. In recent years, with tax revenues declining, many places have had to make hard choices about where to invest money. When looking at the need to help juvenile offenders and their families, the short-term costs of prevention must be weighed against the long-term expenditure for foster care, juvenile, and adult incarceration.

Police in our schools—There is a better way

Watching the news this week, I came across an unsettling story.  

An 8-year-old, third-grade student diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD was handcuffed above the elbow by a sheriff’s deputy for not following directions at school. It is a disturbing image, yet one that may become increasingly more common. 

How important is experience when it comes to Multisystemic Therapy?

Everyone agrees that experience matters. The more time and practice you put into something, the better your performance. But, what if it there was a situation where it was the experience of your colleagues and organization, rather than your own, that mattered more to your future performance? This was the unexpected finding in a recently published study out of Sweden, “The Swedish Implementation of Multisystemic Therapy for Adolescents: Does Treatment Experience Predict Treatment Adherence?” 

Harmful social media and drug trends incredibly accessible to youth

Do you know what the “Put ’Em in a Coffin” challenge is? Ever heard of flakka? Chances are the teens in your life know about these and more or are about to find out. While parents, caregivers, therapists, and school staff catch up on each other’s milestones on Facebook, the current social media and drug trends are passing by well-intentioned adults. In the meantime, our youth are at risk.

Former police officer goes from making arrests to preventing them

At first glance, there is little similarity between the field of law enforcement and the world of mental health. Although law-enforcement personnel regularly encounter mentally ill individuals, their objectives differ from those of mental health care providers. Despite these differences, there are similarities when one takes the time to look a little deeper.

Prior to moving to Los Angeles and becoming an MST supervisor, I was a police officer in a major city with the major objective of protecting life and property. From the systemic perspective, law enforcement is in place to ensure order in our society and laws are followed. They are, in essence, the initial step that society put into place to impose consequences, followed by the courts and the correctional system. 

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.