Acute service delivery in a police-mental health program for children exposed to violence and trauma

Psychiatr Q. 2005 Summer;76(2):107-21. doi: 10.1007/s11089-005-2334-2.

Abstract

The Child Development Community Policing Program represents a national model of community-based collaboration between police and mental health professionals for violence-exposed and traumatized children. Administrative data from clinical records of a 24-hour consultation service were examined through stepwise multivariate logistic regression to identify child and event characteristics associated with a direct, in-person response at the time of police contact. Of 2361 children, 809 (34.3%) received a direct, in-person response. Relative to Caucasian children, Hispanic youth were more likely to receive this form of response (OR = 1.36). An acute clinical response was more likely for incidents of gang involvement (OR = 8.12), accidents (OR = 5.21), felony assaults (OR = 2.97), property crimes (OR = 2.30), family violence (OR = 1.53) and psychiatric crises (OR = 1.29). Acute response was less likely when juvenile conduct problems (OR = 0.61), fires (OR = 0.59), child maltreatment (OR = 0.57), and domestic violence (OR = 0.44) were involved. Incidents that were more severe or involved a primary mental health component were related to utilization of intensive CDCP resources.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Black People / psychology
  • Black People / statistics & numerical data
  • Black or African American
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Community Mental Health Services / statistics & numerical data
  • Connecticut
  • Cooperative Behavior
  • Counseling / statistics & numerical data
  • Crisis Intervention / statistics & numerical data*
  • Delivery of Health Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Health Services Accessibility / statistics & numerical data
  • Hispanic or Latino / psychology
  • Hispanic or Latino / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Police*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / ethnology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / therapy
  • Violence / ethnology
  • Violence / psychology
  • Violence / statistics & numerical data*
  • White People / psychology
  • White People / statistics & numerical data