Impact of the Family Access Center of Excellence (FACE) on Behavioral and Educational Outcomes—A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

The vast majority of youth experiencing symptoms of a mental health (MH) disorder never access services. Barriers to access include unawareness of symptoms or where to get help, stigma, or lack of transportation or finances. Many school, family, and community collaboration models have begun to enhance access to MH supports. The present study reports the impact of one such program called the Family Access Center of Excellence (FACE). FACE employs the Family Check-Up to conduct a child-focused, family systems assessment of family strengths and problem areas and create a treatment plan and linkages to services, with intensive case management to directly address access barriers. In this study, 417 youth were referred from schools to FACE in one academic year. We compared the 224 youth who engaged in FACE to 193 youth who were referred but chose not to access FACE services. Fixed effects regression models indicated that youth who engaged with FACE demonstrated improved social–emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes compared to youth who did not engage. Implications are discussed along with next steps for developing responsive school–community linked models of care.

Keywords:

• mental health
• school–community partnerships
• social–emotional
• behavioral
• academic

DISCLOSURE

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.