Year of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Degree Name

Counselor Education and Supervision

Department or School/College

College of Education and Human Sciences

Committee Co-chair

John Sommers-Flanagan, Veronica Johnson

Commitee Members

Sara Polanchek, Patty Kero, Kirsten Murray

Abstract

This causal-comparative non-experimental study explores the pattern of post-discharge functioning for youth who received either short term or long term residential treatment at Intermountain Children’s Home. Post-discharge functioning was evaluated using the Youth Outcome Questionnaire, 2.0 (Y-OQ 2.0) which tracked the behavioral and subjective experience of the youth, as well as their ability to function in society. Additionally, functional outcomes were also assessed post-discharge via phone interview questions about meaningful life domains. The researcher found that youth in both short and long term residential care experienced significant decreases in their Y-OQ 2.0 scores from admission to discharge, admission to 6 months post-discharge and from admission to 12 months post-discharge. Youth from short term care also experienced a significant increase in Y-OQ 2.0 scores from discharge to 6 months post-discharge. Results from phone interview questions revealed the following significant results: (a) Short term youth exhibited significantly more sexualized behavior at 12 months post-discharge (b) long term youth reported that treatment had a positive impact significantly more than short term youth at 12 months post-discharge and (c) in contrast, at 24 months post-discharge short term youth reported that treatment had a positive impact significantly more than long term youth. Benchmarking data is also provided for responses to phone interview questions. The results are discussed in the context of understanding residential care in the continuum of viable mental health services for youth. Limitations, implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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© Copyright 2016 Tara Lynne Smart