Integrating Systems of Care in California for Youth with Severe Emotional Disturbance III: Answers That Lead to Questions About Out-of-Home Placements and the AB377 Evaluation Project.

This paper is the third in a series of reports on preliminary empirical findings from replications of an integrated system of care for youth suffering from serious emotional disturbance. The development of the innovative .system of care was pioneered in Ventura County, California, and the replications in three other California counties were legislatively enabled through California legislation (Assembly Bill 377). This report presents results on the expenditure and utilization of foster homes, residential placements made through special education programs, and state hospitals. Evaluation results indicate that foster home and state hospital utilization and expenditures are lower for the counties replicating the innovative system of care than for the state of California as a whole. Expenditures for special education residential placements are either at the state rate or lower in one county. The cumulative evidence supports the conclusion that the replication counties are utilizing restrictive levels of care at lower rates than would be expected given state-wide patterns. The results, in conjunction with prior findings, are discussed in the context of questions about the possible fates of youth who no longer live in publicity funded residential facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]