4.46 THE IMPACT OF HIGH FIDELITY WRAPAROUND ON PENNSYLVANIA'S YOUTH AND FAMILIES WITH COMPLEX NEEDS

Objectives: The study examined functional outcomes resulting from high fidelity wraparound (HFW), a youth-guided and family-driven planning process that follows a series of phases, principles, and activities to help youth with complex mental health issues and multisystem involvement. Methods: Eligible youth were between the ages of 8 and 21 years, enrolled in the HFW process in their county (13 counties participated), had a primary mental health diagnosis, were also involved in other child-serving systems, and were at risk for out of home placement. This poster will focus on the baseline to 12 months (n = 40 families: youth and primary caregivers) in the following assessments: Child Behavior Checklist for youth ages 6 to 18 years (CBCL 6-18); Revised Children's Sample Manifest Anxiety Scale, 2nd Edition (RCMAS-2); Reynold's Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS-2); Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ); Delinquency Survey, Revised (DS-R); and Multi- Sector Service Contacts (MSSC-R). Results: After 12 months of HFW, youth were shown to have a 22.8 percent improvement on the internalizing behavior scores and a 2.8 percent improvement on the externalizing behavior scores of the CBCL 6-18. Youth who scored in the clinical range on the RCMAS for anxiety decreased by 10.7 percent, and youth who scored in the clinical range on the RADS-2 for depression decreased by 16.7 percent. Caregivers experienced less stress and strain on the global strain score of the CGSQ. Youth experienced a 9.1 percent decrease in arrests and a 15.1 percent decrease in convictions. Better care coordination resulted in a 25.8 percent decrease in crisis stabilization services, a 9.1 percent decrease in medication monitoring, a 21.9 percent decrease in individual therapy, a 12.5 percent decrease in day treatment, a 21.9 percent decrease in psychiatric inpatient services, and a 15.6 percent decrease in residential treatment facilities, comparing the results from 6 months before baseline with results from 6-12 months. Conclusions: HFW is associated with significant improvement in mental health symptoms, problem behaviors, caregiver strain, delinquent behaviors, and less utilization of costly crisis stabilization, and outpatient, inpatient, and residential services after 12 months of participation. Findings indicate the importance of using the HFW process for youth and families who are the hardest to reach and who result in the highest cost to the child-serving systems.