This report summarizes evaluation results from AISD's federally-funded Title I support of facilities for neglected youth and facilities for delinquent youth during 2003-2004.

Information on the establishment, makeup, functions, and performance of Human Rights Committees (HRCs) was obtained through a 1981 survey of officials in 74 state residential facilities (for the mentally retarded) in 36 states. The most commonly reported HRC activity involved behavior modification programs and psychotropic medication. (Author/SEW)

Explores the perceptions of middle-class parents who have placed an adolescent child in residential treatment in a sectarian agency. Identifies two pathways to placement, a long and a short route, and describes psychosocial events, experiences, and family environments that are associated with the pathways. (Author)

The Physical and Architectural Features Checklist (PAF) measures physical resources of sheltered care settings in terms of nine derived dimensions. Data show that facilities which have more physical resources are seen as attractive by outside observers and pleasant by residents. Cost is not related to any PAF dimension. (Author)

A learning group in transactional analysis for adolescents in residential treatment received favorable responses from group members, indicating effectiveness of this approach. (MS)

The Child Health and Illness Profile--Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE) was administered to 63 adolescents in group settings. Domains studied were satisfaction, resilience, risk, achievement, and disorders. Compared to a normed group, youth in group homes or institutions felt physically healthy and safe and were resilient. Of concern were low…

This article reports that in 2001, for the first time since its creation 20 years earlier, Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver programs for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities had Federal and state expenditures that exceeded those for Medicaid Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Mental…

This article discusses results of regulations for Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded, arguing that, by establishing minimum standards for funding, these policies promote mediocrity. Strategies for promoting compliance behaviors are offered, as are observations on regulatory reform and the process of regulatory impact. (PB)

This article presents the argument that overregulation of Medicaid-funded residential treatment environments has placed rules ahead of contingency-based behavior of clients. Blame is focused on coercive enforcement of inaccurate rules, precluding responsive staff action. Solutions are advanced to encourage natural contingencies of teaching and…

An application of the "Standards for Evaluations of Educational Programs, Projects, and Materials" to a private institution caring for emotionally disturbed and delinquent children--the Starr Commonwealth Schools--is discussed. Topics include the organizational context, evaluation initiation, implementation, external benefits, and…

This response to a description of a psychotropic drug review process, TAPER, suggests that the data supporting the reported low rate and dosage level of psychotropic drug use resulting from the process were misleading and inaccurate. Implications of such a drug review process for facilities serving people with developmental disabilities are drawn.…

Thirty-two facilities for the elderly in Spain were compared with 55 such facilities in the United States through a Spanish translation of the Multiphasic Environmental Assessment Procedure of R. Moos and S. Lemke (1979). Implications of program findings for facility improvement and methodology for international evaluation are discussed. (SLD)

A management program was implemented to increase the training activities and decrease nonwork behavior of eight direct-care staff in a facility for individuals with mental retardation. Improvements were maintained during a 43-week period, staff acceptability measures were positive, and beneficial changes occurred in clients. (JDD)

Illustrates some important differences between interdisciplinary and ecological perspectives on meeting the needs of adolescents experiencing emotional difficulties. Highlights use of ecosystemic models in residential and school facilities and enumerates areas where ecologically based changes might be appropriate. Outlines operational guidelines…