Critical failures in a regional network of residential treatment facilities.

The present descriptive case study reports on the state of treatment services and environmental settings in adolescent residential treatment facilities (RTFs) conducted as part of the Residential Treatment Center Evaluation Project. The project frequently uncovered poor quality of care exposing youth to deleterious conditions. Observations related to harsh treatment practices, psychiatric practice and medication management, educational and aftercare planning, and general treatment planning were closely examined.

Ethical issues in the evaluation of competence in persons with acquired brain injuries.

The evaluation of competency in an individual with acquired brain injury has become an area of increasing concern to health care professionals in recent years. The evolving neurobehavioral status, nature and extent of diminished cognition and the post-discharge environment are factors which must be considered when assessing the competency of a person with brain injury to function independently in the community. In addition, clinicians must be familiar with the distinctions between various definitions and models of competency.

Unclaimed Children revisited: the status of state children's mental health service systems.

In 1982, Jane Knitzer's Unclaimed Children described continued nationwide failure to provide services for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances. Since 1982, there has been considerable change in the philosophy, administration, and operation of services for this population. The current study compared state child and adolescent (C/A) mental health systems to those described in Unclaimed Children.

Predicting community integration after traumatic brain injury with neuropsychological measures.

A neuropsychological test battery was administered to 23 subjects with traumatic brain injury during initial inpatient rehabilitation who were participating in the national Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems study. Trails B and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test total scores obtained during inpatient rehabilitation were significantly correlated with the Community Integration Questionnaire total score that was administered at one year postinjury. These findings suggest that performances on tests of cognitive speed and flexibility, complex attention, and memory during the acute phase of recovery may be useful for the later prediction of "real world" behavior and psychosocial outcome after one year postinjury.