The evaluation plan for New York State's Children and Youth Intensive Case Management (CYICM) Program is described, which was introduced in July 1988. The CYICM Program is a statewide intervention focusing on keeping children with serious emotional disturbances in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs. It is a client-centered service provided to children in their natural settings of home, school, and community. Each Intensive Case Manager (ICM) has a caseload of 10 children. The 3-year evaluation design is a panel design with a comparison group. A Client Description Form and Program Termination Form are used. The first year of the evaluation involved collecting descriptive information concerning all CYICM children, conceptualizing the research design, and developing outcome measures. In the second year, 30% of the caseload of each ICM will be sampled to determine child characteristics, child functioning, and ICM behavior. This paper addresses three measures of child outcomes: (1) comparison of the child's living situation on admission and discharge; (2) comparison of CYICM clients' inpatient usage 6 months before and after the ICM intervention; and (3) comparison of CYICM clients' inpatient usage to that of a matched group. Baseline data on 682 children provide a profile of the typical client and the 92 children who have been discharged from the program to date. The typical child served is a 14-year-old White non-Hispanic (58%) male (66%). Nine figures illustrate the study design and results. (SLD)