Critical Time Intervention

The Center for Social Innovation’s online CTI course for Spring 2013 begins on Wednesday March 6th

Sarah Conover — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:56:26 +0000

This 5-session instructor-led course will give your agency the tools it needs to implement CTI. It brings together national CTI experts, a team-based learning approach, and engaging multimedia technology. The course covers CTI principles, evidence for CTI, phases of CTI, and skills for implementation.

Read flyer to learn more. To register, click here.

New project launches in North Carolina

Dan Herman — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 16:54:13 +0000

The University of North Carolina School of Social Work has launched a CTI project that will provide services to over 200 persons with severe mental illness in Orange and Chatham counties. Led by faculty members Barbara B. Smith and Gary Cuddeback, the three-year project is also intended to promote the statewide adoption of the model. The project is funded by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. Further details here.

US and regional experts convene in Argentina to plan next steps in research collaboration

Dan Herman — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:48:57 +0000

A meeting was held in Cordoba, Argentina, on November 26-27, 2012 of the leadership group of RedeAmericas, one of five NIMH-funded hubs for international mental health services research. Each hub serves as a center for multidisciplinary activities across a specific region. RedeAmericas research focuses on the mental health treatment gap in six Latin American cities – Rio de Janeiro, Medellin, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Neuquén and Cordoba. The Cordoba meeting brought together more than 40 people from all six sites. Discussions focused on planning for a multi-site randomized trial of Critical Time Intervention-Task Shifting (CTI-TS), an adaptation of CTI that engages qualified workers and peer-mentors to assume community oriented tasks from health and mental health units, and to provide these services in the community. The planning meeting preceded the 2012 Latin American Public Health Conference at which RedeAmericas investigators played a key role, including a presentation by Dr. Ruben Alvarado of the University of Chile in Santiago about CTI-TS.

CTI reduces re-hospitalization risk

Dan Herman — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 21:19:18 +0000

A newly published paper by Andrew Tomita of Columbia University and Dan Herman of Hunter College examines the impact CTI in reducing rehospitalization among formerly homeless individuals with severe and persistent mental illness after discharge from inpatient psychiatric treatment. In a randomized trial with 150 participants, psychiatric rehospitalization at the end of the 18-month followup period was significantly lower for the group assigned to CTI compared with the usual services group (odds ratio=.11, 95% confidence interval=.01–.96). The study is the first to demonstrate that CTI, primarily designed to prevent recurrent homelessness in high-risk individuals, also reduced the occurrence of rehospitalization after discharge.

CTI session added at this week’s NAEH conference

Dan Herman — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 15:56:54 +0000

There will be an opportunity for providers who are interested in CTI to meet at the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference in Washington DC on Tuesday, July 17 at 4:30PM. The session will be an informal one, intended to foster collaboration among providers and answer questions related to the model and its implementation. The session is open to all and will be facilitated by Judith Samuels and Dan Herman. Location TBA.

Family CTI webinar July 12

Dan Herman — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:18:35 +0000

Our colleagues at the Center for Social Innovation will be offering a free webinar on July 12 from noon to 1PM eastern time that will describe the key elements in delivering CTI to high-risk families and introduce a web-based family CTI course that will be offered this coming fall. More information and registration details are available here.

Promising results from new UK prison study

Dan Herman — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:52:09 +0000

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.

How service settings influence CTI practice

Dan Herman — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:59:40 +0000

Professor Fang-Pei Chen

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.

CTI judged among “top-tier” social programs

Dan Herman — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:07:34 +0000

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.

CTI researchers convene in Buenos Aries

Dan Herman — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:33:29 +0000

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.