Evaluation of an Intensive Case Management Program for Transition Age Youth and Its Transition to Assertive Community Treatment

Abstract

This study reports on an evaluation of Our Town, an innovative case management program based on the Village Integrated Service Agency (ISA) program of Long Beach, Calif., and focusing on providing early, intensive psychiatric and psychosocial intervention for transition-age youth aged 18–25 with serious mental illness. A longitudinal, 2-year pre-post design was used. Two sets of data were collected. The interview data compared participants' progress during the first year of treatment with their functioning during the year prior using in-depth, face-to-face interviews (n = 39 individuals at program entry; n = 22 at 12 months). The tracking data consisted of monthly progress reports from program staff on a reduced set of measures for 18 months. Compared with the year prior to admission, there were no significant changes in quality of life and on most ratings of clinical functioning. However, clients showed improved adult daily living skills; they were more likely to be working (60.8% vs. 21.7%) and less lik...