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A School-Based Post-Katrina Therapeutic Intervention

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Abstract

The current study presents the implementation of a set of school based interventions in a greater New Orleans school district one year following Hurricane Katrina. The interventions included adaptation and implementation of evidence based treatments in a crisis situation with at-risk youth which involved training and clinical challenges. 386 students found to have significant depressive and/or disruptive disorder symptoms received treatment from the School Therapeutic Enhancement Program (STEP). Further, a district-wide mental health needs assessment of middle and high school students (N = 11,861) screened for behavioral and emotional difficulties at the beginning and end of the school year provided a benchmark for community youth’s emotional and behavioral distress. High-need intervention students demonstrated clinically significant lower levels of emotional and behavioral problems, depression and inattention in comparison to pre-treatment levels as indicated by multiple informants (i.e., self, parent, teacher). Self-reported distress levels were also lower than screening group students at post-test. These findings support the efficacy of a school-based intervention for youth struggling with the aftereffects of a highly disruptive natural disaster. Implications for utilizing a flexible adaptation of an evidence-based training model involving coaching and consultation are discussed.

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Funding

For the School Therapeutic Enhancement Program (STEP) was made possible by a Social Services Block Grant G-0601LASOSR, 2006 through the Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services. The authors of this article thank the JPHSA social workers who implemented this treatment program, Angela Henry, MSW, Children’s Services Director, JPHSA and the children and families of Jefferson Parish. In addition, we thank Erum Nadeem, Ph.D, NYU Langone Medical Center for her help in the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 14 Rye Ridge Plaza, Suite 244, Rye Brook, NY, 10573, USA

    Eliot E. Goldman

  2. The Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority (JPHSA), Metairie, LA, USA

    Daliah Bauer & Elaine Kalka

  3. The Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Denise L. Newman

  4. The Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    John E. Lochman

  5. The Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Wendy K. Silverman

  6. The REACH Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Peter S. Jensen

  7. The Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    John Curry & Karen C. Wells

  8. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Kevin Stark

  9. William Bannon Associates, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    William M. Bannon

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  1. Eliot E. Goldman
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  2. Daliah Bauer
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  3. Denise L. Newman
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  4. Elaine Kalka
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  8. John Curry
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  9. Kevin Stark
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  10. Karen C. Wells
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  11. William M. Bannon
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The Integrated Psychotheraphy Consortium

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eliot E. Goldman.

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The members of the Integrated Psychotheraphy Consortium are listed in the appendix section.

Appendix

Appendix

The Integrated Psychotherapy Consortium (IPC) is a group of clinician-researchers who initially trained New York City therapists in evidence-based therapies (EBTs) after September 11, 2001 using interventions they had each independently developed (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapies for depression, disruptive disorders, anxiety disorders, and PTSD). The IPC clinician-researchers work to integrate and align their different teaching approaches and CBT manuals into a more common approach to allow practicing therapists to rapidly learn and acquire the essential skills for each of the EBTs. Continued support for disseminating their integrated therapies and training approaches is handled through the REACH Institute, an evidence-based practices dissemination organization. Information about the intervention manuals described in this manuscript can be obtained at www.thereachinstitute.org. The IPC includes Peter S. Jensen, M.D., the REACH Institute, Bruce Chorpita, Ph.D. Christopher M. Layne, Ph.D. and William R. Saltzman, Ph.D., UCLA, John Curry, Ph.D. and Karen C. Wells, Ph.D., Duke University School of Medicine, Eliot E. Goldman, Ph.D., Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, John E. Lochman, Ph.D., University of Alabama, Kevin Stark, University of Texas-Austin, Thomas H. Ollendick, Ph.D., Virginia Tech University, Ron Rapee, Ph.D., Macquarie University, Wendy K. Silverman, Ph.D., Yale University School of Medicine.

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Goldman, E.E., Bauer, D., Newman, D.L. et al. A School-Based Post-Katrina Therapeutic Intervention. Adm Policy Ment Health 42, 363–372 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-014-0576-y

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