A team from the United Kingdom have published results from a pilot randomized trial testing the feasibility of using a brief version of CTI with persons with mental illness following release from prison. Sixty prisoners were randomly assigned to receive either a brief CTI intervention or usual discharge planning services. The study aimed to see whether the intervention would effectively connect mentally ill prisoners with social, clinical, housing and welfare services during the first weeks following release. Results showed that a higher proportion of persons assigned to CTI were connected to services than were those assigned to usual services. In addition, those assigned to CTI were more likely to be receiving medication and to be registered with a general practitioner. The team is currently in the midst of a full-scale randomized trial that will more conclusively test the model with a larger number of research participants.
A newly-published study by Fang-Pei Chen of the Columbia University School of Social Work explores the ways in which service setting characteristics influence the implementation and practice of CTI. Results show service structure (e.g., the platform for relationship building, staff to manage housing applications, and organizational policy on substance abuse) and agency services (e.g., existing resources and modalities) influenced practitioners’ operationalization of shared CTI goals and fundamental practice strategies. Findings inform CTI fidelity elements and the assessment of service settings for CTI implementation. The study highlights the crucial role of practitioners in the implementation of evidence based practices and the importance of seeking practitioners’ feedback on their experiences with EBPs for enhancing their effective implementation.
The highly regarded Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy has announced that CTI meets the Congressional Top Tier evidence standard as an effective social program. This standard, identified in recent legislative language, is “well-designed randomized controlled trials [showing] sizeable, sustained effects on important…outcomes.” The Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works closely with key Executive Branch and Congressional officials to help promote dissemination of the most promising social interventions.
Investigators from four countries gathered on September 22 to describe their current research at a symposium held at the World Congress of Psychiatry in Buenos Aries, Argentina, sponsored by the World Psychiatric Association. Participants included Dan Herman (US), Ezra Susser (US), Graham Thornicroft (UK), Elie Valencia (Brazil), Judith Wolff (Netherlands). Thornicroft and colleagues are conducting a randomized trial of CTI with persons with mental illness being released from correctional facilities in London and Manchester, while Valencia reported on work his group is carrying out using CTI in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro. Wolff leads a large multi-site randomized trial testing an adapted version of the model with homeless persons and women who have experienced interpersonal violence.
The Center for Social Innovation, Inc., has announced that the next offering of its intensive, instructor-led online course will run between February 6 and March 26th, 2012. Bringing together national CTI experts, a team-based learning approach, and engaging multi-media technology, the course provides agencies with the tools needed to implement CTI in their organization. Download details and contact information here.
Psychiatric Services has published the findings of the most recent randomized trial of CTI with people with severe mental illness following discharge from psychiatric hospitals. 150 previously homeless men and women with severe mental illness and who were discharged from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization to transitional residences on the hospital grounds were randomly assigned to receive usual care or usual care plus CTI at the point of discharge to the community. Following discharge, participants’ housing status was assessed every six weeks for 18 months. An intent-to-treat analysis demonstrated that participants assigned to the CTI group had significantly less homelessness at the end of the follow-up period, supporting the idea that a targeted, relatively short intervention applied at a critical transition point can enhance the efficacy of long-term supports for persons with severe mental illness who are living in the community. A free full-text version of the article is available here.
The Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program is a new VA program that will award grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives who will provide supportive services to very low-income veterans and their families residing in or transitioning to permanent housing. Organizations will receive grants to provide a range of supportive services, including CTI, designed to promote housing stability.
SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services has awarded five-year grants to providers in three states to implement CTI as part of its 2010 Mental Health Systems Transformation grant program. Awardees are the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare; the County of Lake, Illinois; and the City of St. Louis (MO) Mental Health Board.
The Conrad Hilton Foundation has announced $13 million in grants to support a five-year drive to end chronic homelessness in Los Angeles. The multi-faceted initiative includes funds for a range of new housing and service programs. Included among them is a $330,000 grant to the Downtown Women’s Center to help 80 chronically homeless women effectively transition into permanent housing. This will be the first application of CTI in Los Angeles, a city with one of the largest populations of homeless persons in the United States.
