Multisystemic Therapy: A National Blueprint Model

What is MST?
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is a unique, goal-oriented, comprehensive treatment program designed to serve multi-problem youth in their community.  MST is the only family-focused and community-based treatment program that:

• has been the focuse of several major reasearch studies
• has demonstrated clinical and complex emotional, social, and academic needs
• uses only treatment strategies that are supported by research

Who should receive MST?
MST is effective in helping youth with chronic, violent, delinquent behavior and youth with serious emotional problems, including:
truancy and academic problems

• truancy and academic problems
• serious disrespect, disobedience and violation of rules
• aggressive behavior (fighting and property destruction)
• criminal behavior
• drug and alcohol problems
• running away
• oppostional and impulsive behaviors

What makes MST work?
MST targets the known causes of problem youth behavior by focusing on family relationships, school performance, peer relationships, and the youth's neighborhood and community.  MST interventions focus on key aspects of these areas in each youth's life.  All interventions are designed in full collaboration with family members and key figures in each area of the child's life - parents or legal guardians, school teachers and principals, peers, and the community.

What does MST do?

• complete functional assessment of youth in the context of their family, school, and community
• seeks to understand the "fit" between the child's problems and the factors which contribute to them
• develops treatment based on "fit" factors
• focuses on helping parents learn skills to solve problems while building supportive social networks
• empowers parents to address the needs of the youth more effectively
• emphasizes long-term change that families can mantain after the program

Referrals for MST services:
Priority indicators

• Youth 12-17 years old
• involved in multiple systems
• history of ineffective treatment
• history of drug use/abuse or mental health concerns
• involvement in criminal or delinquent behavior
• youth returning home from placement
• youth at imminent risk of out-of-home placement due to physical or verbal aggression at home, school, or in the community
• substance abuse in home or school contexts
• oppostional and impulsive behaviors
• ongoing non-compliance

What is MST-PSB?

Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies

The PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) Curriculum, a blueprint model, is a comprehensive program for promoting emotional and social competencies and reducing aggression and behavior problems in elementary school-aged children while simultaneously enhancing the educational process in the classroom.  This innovative curriculum is designed to be used by educators and counselors in a multi-year, universal prevention model.  Although primarily focused on the school and classroom settings, information and activities are also included for use with parents.

 

Interventions are geared toward enhancing social and emotional competence in children.  The specific intervention goals focus on increasing self-control, personal responsibility, and self-esteem.  PATHS also focuses on setting goals, increasing logical reasoning and problem solving, and getting along with others.

The PAX Good Behavior Game

The PAX Good Behavior Game is a scientifically proven classroom based prevention and intervention game.  Numerous research studies have shown that this game decreases discipline problems, increases student learning, and reduces substance abuse, aggression, and other delinquent behaviors later in life.

 

Behavioral Health Rehabilitative Services

Hempfield Behavioral Health provides prescriptive evaluations, Behavioral Specialist Consultation (BSC), Mobile Therapists (MT) and Therapeutic Staff Supports (TSS).  If medically necessary, our BHRS team will provide home, school, or community based interventions with your child.  Services are designed to aid youth with a serious emotional/mental disturbance in order to prevent more restrictive services or out-of-home placement and to promote age appropriate psychosocial growth.  The BHRS team collaborates with the family, teachers, and significant other individuals to help them develop the skills and technique needed to integrate the youth into normalizing activities.  While working with your child, HBH uses the PATHS curriculum to improve social-emotional skills in primary, elementary and middle school developmental levels, including: 

 

• manage emotions
• understanding expression of feelings
• problem solving
• self-esteem
• grief and loss
• reducing impulsiveness
• making good choices
• improving empathy
• increasing concentration

What is the PATHS model?

PATHS was designed to help children:

• better manage impulses
• develop mature thinking skills
• become more self-motivated and enthusiastic about learning
• obtain information necessary for social understanding and pro-social behavior
• increase their ability to generate creative alternative solutions to problems
• learn to anticipate and evaluate situations, behaviors, and consequences
• develop skills to work cooperatively and individually and with others
• develop empathy skills
• greater persistence

BHRS Locations:

Dauphin County

2019 North 2nd Street

Harrisburg, PA 17102

717-221-8004

Fax: 717-221-8006

 

Sellinsgrove

29 North Market Street
Sellinsgrove, PA 17870
570-884-3335
Fax: 570-884-3336

Peacemakers

Peacemakers is a curriculum-based violence prevention program for upper elementary and middle school students.  Hempfield Behavioral Health has trained facilitators in both English and Spanish.  Peacemakers is based on an 18-lesson psycho-educational curriculum delivered by teachers or other youth-serving professionals.

 

The curriculum teaches students positive attitudes and values related to violence, and trains youth in conflict-related psycho-social skills such as anger management, problem solving, assertiveness, communication, and conflict resolution.  The program consists of more than delivery of the curriculum; in addition, school staff use a variety of procedures to infuse program principles and techniques into the everyday culture of the school.

 

Goals:

 

The peacemaker program has two goals: to prevent violence and to improve interpersonal behavior among youth.  Peacemakers combines best practices from psychology and values-education into experiences that are proven to help prevent youth violence and improve interpersonal behavior.  Students learn skills within the real world context of their lives, increasing the programs effectiveness.  The program provides proven instruction in:

• nonviolent values and attitudes
• anger management
• coping with stress
• perspective-switching
• empathy for others
• assertive behavior
• communication skills
• conflict resolution
• dealing with bullying
• rresisting negative peer pressure
• providing positive peer pressure

Research and Recognition:

The research shows the program resulting in positive changes for six of the seven aggression-related variables examined when comparing the treatment and control groups; psycho-social skills, self-reported aggressive behavior, and the numbers of aggression-related disciplinary incidents, times conflict mediation services were used, and suspensions for violent behavior.  The aggressive behavior checklist showed that the intervention had a stronger effect on boys than girls and middle school students compared with elementary students.  The intervention's suspension-reducing effect was greater for middle school students than elementary school students.  It was also found that the program had a stronger influence on the level of boys' versus girls' participation in mediation services.

The U.S. Department of Education recognizes Peacemakers as a Promising Program for Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools.  Peacemakers received the 1999 Ohio Governor's Community Peace Award.  Nomination was made by Audrey Dvorak, a Cleveland Municipal Schools teacher, who taught the program.  The Federation for Community Planning's 1999 Anisfield-Wolf Memorial Award which recognizes an outstanding service of program provided by a non-profit agency.

Healthy Families Dauphin County
Home Visitation for First Time Mothers

Who is eligible:
First-time pregnant women living in the Harrisburg area are offered the opportunity to have their own bilingual, bicultural social worker with specialized training in prenatal and early childhood education.  Health Families Dauphin County is both free and voluntary.

What does the Home Visitor Do:
Home Visitors assist a pregnant woman and her family with many issues that may include:

First-time pregnant women living in the Harrisburg area are offered the opportunity to have their own bilingual, bicultural social worker with specialized training in prenatal and early childhood education.  Health Families Dauphin County is both free and voluntary.Home Visitors assist a pregnant woman and her family with many issues that may include:

• Providing the mother with information that will lead to a successful pregnancy and delivery.
• Encouraging the mother to talk about her hopes, fears, stressors, and futur plans.
• Helping the mother find necessary resources.
• Teaching the mother about the care, development, health and safety of infants and toddlers.
• Teaching the mother to engage in activities that help her baby grow and develop.
• Performing ongoing screenings that can let everyone know if there are matters that needs special attention or referrals.

How Do I Get a Woman Involved in This Program:
If you know someone who would be interested, you can contact us directly by calling 717-221-8004, by email, AlisonRosen@comcast.net or by fax, 717-221-8006.  We will get a referral form to you to complete.  Please contact us as early as possible in the woman's pregnancy.  Once we receive a referral form, we will contact you to let you know if the woman you referred is eligible and if we have an opening in our program.  We will then contact the pregnant woman and discuss the program with her.  If she is interested, we will schedule the first home visit.

First-time pregnant women living in the Harrisburg area are offered the opportunity to have their own bilingual, bicultural social worker with specialized training in prenatal and early childhood education.  Health Families Dauphin County is both free and voluntary.

If I am Pregnant, How Can I Get Involved:
If you are a pregnant woman, you can contact us directly by calling us at 717-221-8004.

Healthy Families Dauphin County Brochure
Healthy Families Dauphin County Referral Form