Research

Project Connect, 2009-2010

This quasiexperimental study evaluated the effectiveness of Project Connect, a pilot program with 97 homeless men, who were frequent users of a psychiatric emergency room (CPEP) in New York City. The goal was to engage the men with outpatient treatment and other community supports in order to promote recovery and decrease subsequent use of the CPEP. This was the first CTI program to use peer specialists to deliver the intervention.

Project Aspire, 2005-2010

This award-winning project used three evidence-based practices (CTI, Seeking Safety, and Wellness-Self Management) with the aim of positively impacting sustainable housing placements for 143 homeless women with mental illness and chemical abuse histories after discharge from a shelter in Brooklyn, NY.

CTI Training & Technical Assistance Evaluation, 2007-2008

The Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS) partnered with CTI researchers at the Columbia University Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies to design and implement an in-person training curriculum, consisting of two 4-hour training sessions followed by on-site consultation with each team. This study tested the effectiveness of the training in helping three agencies – The Bridge, Puerto Rican Family Institute (PRFI) and Common Ground Community – to understand and successfully implement the CTI model. This project was part of a larger effort to expand dissemination efforts on a national scale.

CTI in the Transition from Hospital to Community, 2001-2007

Following on the encouraging results of the first trial with men discharged from the shelter, this second randomized trial tested CTI with 150 previously homeless adults with serious mental illness following discharge from two psychiatric hospitals.

Critical Time Intervention and Released Prisoners, 2007

This pilot randomized trial tested the feasibility of two different models of implementing CTI with mentally ill men upon release from prisons in London and Manchester: 1) prison-based and 2) community-based with the CTI manager visiting the prison.

The Family Critical Time Intervention Study, 2001-2005

This randomized trial evaluated a program that combined the Housing First model of rapid re-housing with Family CTI among 228 single-parent homeless families, where the mothers had a mental health and/or substance abuse problem. It tested the program’s effectiveness in improving the residential stability and mental health of the mothers and children. Families were followed over a 15-month period.

Brief Critical Time Intervention, 2003

This randomized trial of 135 veterans with serious mental illness assessed the effectiveness of a brief CTI intervention (B-CTI) in attaining a limited outcome, namely to increase outpatient visits during the first three months after discharge from psychiatric hospital.