News > Ground-Breaking Treatment Project for Children & Families

Judge Baker Children’s Center Undertakes Ground-Breaking Treatment Project for Children & Families

June 20, 2005

Boston, MA – Judge Baker Children’s Center on Mission Hill is pleased to announce that work has begun on a four-year MacArthur-funded project which brings evidence-based treatments into community mental health clinics. Currently the largest study of psychological services in clinic settings, the project involves multiple clinics in two cities, Boston, Massachusetts, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Network on Youth Mental Health is a national collaboration directed by John Weisz, PhD, who is President and CEO of Boston’s Judge Baker Children’s Center. The Network encompasses specialists in psychology, social work, psychiatry, pediatrics, anthropology, statistics, mental health administration, and family advocacy. Network members use their skills and experience collaboratively to identify child and adolescent mental health care needs and to propose and test ways of addressing those needs. The Network engages in an array of projects, funded by a 4-year grant to Judge Baker from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The various Network projects encompass more than 200 youth mental health clinics and agencies from 38 states, including Hawaii. Some of the projects involve providing training and consultation to clinical practitioners and mental health care to children and teens; other projects involve analyses of the organizations and systems through which mental health care is provided to youngsters throughout the nation. The overall goal is to develop and evaluate strategies for improving youth mental health care.

Dr. Weisz leads the Network program entitled Child System and Treatment Enhancement Projects, or “Child STEPs.” The project examines the effectiveness of evidence-based treatment interventions when used with children in community mental health clinics and emphasizes three kinds of child mental health issues: anxiety, depression, and conduct problems.

“Our goal is to find ways to make science useful to practice, by bringing the best available treatments into everyday clinical care for children and families,” said Dr. Weisz. Although some treatments have been proven to be effective in a university or research setting, they have not been tested in such real-world treatment settings as community clinics. The project aims to bridge the gap between science and practice by bringing evidence-based treatments into local clinics and studying whether they improve mental health outcomes for the children treated in those clinics.

The Boston Project

Dr. Weisz’s team in Boston includes project managers, Jackie Martin, PhD and Anya Ho, PhD, and research assistants Abby Wolf and Dana Blankschtein. More postdoctoral fellows and research assistants will be joining the program this summer. The Boston clinic partners include The Brookline Center, The Home for Little Wanderers, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), and South Shore Mental Health.

Through training and weekly consultation with therapists in these clinics, Child STEPs introduces evidence-based treatments for three kinds of treatments for three kinds of child mental health problems: anxiety, depression, and conduct problems. The research will be conducted with 8-13 year old boys and girls who exhibit any one, or any combination, of these mental health problems. “Children seen in community mental health clinics typically experience mental health problems in more than one area,” said Dr. Ho.

“Many families wouldn't be able to go to a University clinic and participate in a study. Our research is trying to reach a different population. It is so important to bring the knowledge gained in academic and scientific worlds to everyday children and families who are served in community mental health settings," said Dr. Martin.

Dr. Weisz, Dr. Martin, and Dr. Ho have just completed the three trainings required for the therapists who are working on the project. The first, in February, focused on parent training for children with disruptive behavior problems. The second, in April, involved cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood anxiety. The third training, in June, focused on cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood depression. After a trial period during July and August where therapists practice the skills learned in the trainings, children will begin to be enrolled in the project.

Children who qualify for the study, and whose families give consent, will be randomly assigned to therapists in one of the three treatment conditions, and treatment will begin. An assessment team will stay in touch with all participating families to assess progress during treatment and outcomes after treatment ends.

Dr. Martin and Dr. Ho are already meeting weekly with more than 20 clinicians to provide consultation and practice in the treatment skills. The project requires a two and a half year commitment from the clinic therapists, including six months of training and practice.