Blueprints for Violence Prevention, Book Eight: Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care

• NCJ Number: 174201
• Author(s): P Chamberlain; S F Mihalic
• Editor(s): D S Elliott
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 123 pages
• Grant Number(s): EPI9705937; 98-MU-MU-K005
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); Ctr's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Colorado Dept of Public Health and Environment
• Sale Source: University of Colorado at Boulder
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This volume describes research aimed at identifying 10 model programs proven effective for violence prevention; describes the 10 programs selected from the more than 400 reviewed; and details the goals, targeted risk and protective factors, design, and other aspects of Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, one of the model programs selected.

Abstract

The document is intended as a practical reference to allow interested persons, agencies, and communities to make an informed decision about a program's appropriateness for their local situation, needs, and available resources. An introduction notes that demand for effective violence and crime prevention programs has never been greater, but most programs being used have not been evaluated. Therefore, a collaborative effort was conducted to identify 10 violence prevention programs that met a high scientific standard of program effectiveness, based on their strong research design, data indicating significant deterrent effects, sustained effects, and multiple site replication. The project included plans for a technical assistance and monitoring component. Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) is a cost-effective alternative to group or residential treatment, incarceration, and hospitalization for adolescents who have problems with chronic antisocial behavior, emotional disturbance, and juvenile delinquency. The program recruits, trains, and closely supervises community families to provide adolescents with histories of chronic and severe criminal behavior with treatment and intensive supervision at home, in school, and in the community. The youth's biological or adoptive family receives family therapy. Youth participate in a structured daily behavior management program in the foster home and receive individual, skill-focused therapy. The program reduces incarceration, subsequent arrests, running away, and drug use. Tables, figure, appended program materials, reference notes, and 57 references