This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA)-funded project is a statewide System of Care expansion grant, which started in 2012 and is funded through 2016.

The purpose of the project is to improve the behavioral health outcomes of children and youth with serious emotional disturbances and their families. The project is designed to bring the System of Care approach to scale across New York State through the provision of training and technical assistance, with the goal of creating a sustainable service-delivery infrastructure that incorporates System of Care values, principles, and practices.

Evaluation & Research

The NYS Success evaluation consists of the following key components:

1. Federal Data Requirements (Infrastructure and Youth-Level Outcome Data): To ensure compliance with federal mandates, CHSR is managing the collection of quarterly surveys, which assess infrastructure changes occurring within the counties as a result of NYS Success. The survey collects such data as county policy changes; changes in the number of agencies and organizations collaborating, coordinating, and sharing resource; and changes in the number and percentage of youth and family members serving on workgroups, advisory groups, or councils. Individual youth-level data are collected from the counties using a tool that measures mental health symptoms, substance use, school functioning, and other outcomes of interest at six-month intervals.
2. Process Studies and Formative Evaluations: In order to provide feedback that can inform continuous quality improvement as well as the development of new project initiatives, CHSR conducts process studies and formative evaluations on topics of interest to NYS Success stakeholders. For instance, CHSR conducted a formative evaluation on the implementation of Wraparound in New York State, an intensive care coordination process in children’s mental health, to inform the design of an upcoming pilot project.
3. County-Specific Evaluation: CHSR is working intensively in several counties on county-specific evaluation activities to inform their local System of Care efforts. CHSR partners with county stakeholders in the design of research questions and creates evaluation approaches to meet local needs.
4. Wraparound Pilot Project: NYS Success, in collaboration with state partners, is implementing a pilot project on Wraparound in three selected counties. CHSR is designing and implementing the evaluation, which consists of process and outcomes studies. The process study is designed to capture stakeholder perspectives on Wraparound training, coaching, and overall implementation, as well as fidelity to the Wraparound approach. The outcomes study is designed to assess early outcomes of Wraparound, using a pre-post, matched comparison design. Data sources include Medicaid claims data, juvenile detention placement data, and school data.

For more information, contact Rose Greene