Background | MST in Adams County | Why MST Works | Contact Information

Background

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is recognized as a model program in SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), and is a time-limited, intensive family intervention intended to stabilize the living arrangement, promote reunification, or prevent and reduce the use of out-of-home therapeutic resources. 

This community-based treatment addresses the multiple determinants of serious antisocial behavior in juvenile offenders, viewing individuals as being nested within a complex network of interconnected systems that encompass individual, family, and extra familial (peer, school, neighborhood) factors.  Intervention may be necessary in any one or a combination of these systems.  MST serves both youth and their families.

MST in Adams County

Adams County youth (age 12 to 17), who are juvenile offenders and at high-risk for out-of-home placement due to chronic, violent, or substance abuse behaviors are eligible for Multisystemic Therapy services provided through Adelphoi Village.  Adelphoi Village is a private, not-for-profit agency providing comprehensive, community-based treatment to over 800 youth and families on daily basis throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware. 

Each Adelphoi Village therapist carries a small caseload (4 to 6 families at any one time), and are on-call for their families sevem days per week around the clock.   During weekends, a 24-hour on-call system is active, with supervisory staff on as back-up to support the primary on-call therapist.

Referrals to the program are made by two Adams County departments  - Adams County Probation Services (juvenile) and Adams County Children and Youth Services.

Why Does MST Work?

MST Promotes Behavior Change 

Multisystemic Therapy addresses the multiple factors known to be related to delinquency across the key settings or systems within which youth are embedded.  The program strives to promote behavior change in the youth’s natural environment, using the strengths of each system (e.g., family, peers, school, neighborhood, indigenous support network) to facilitate change.

MST Empowers Parents

The major goal of Multisystemic Therapy is to empower parents with the skills and resources needed to independently address the difficulties that arise in raising teenagers and to empower youth to cope with family, peer, school, and neighborhood problems.  Within a context of support and skill-building, the MST therapist places developmentally appropriate demands on the adolescent and family for responsible behavior.  Intervention strategies are integrated into a social ecological context and include strategic family therapy, structural family therapy, behavioral parent training, and cognitive behavior therapies.

MST is a Home-based Model of Service Delivery

Multisystemic Therapy is provided using a home-based model of service delivery.  This model helps to overcome barriers to service access, increases family retention in treatment, allows for the provision of intensive services (i.e., therapists have low caseloads), and enhances the maintenance of treatment gains.  The usual duration of MST treatment is approximately 60 hours of contact over four months, but frequency and duration of sessions are determined by individual family needs.

MST is Cost-effective 

Multisystemic Therapy shows favorable cost-saving outcomes in comparison with usual mental health and juvenile justice services such as incarceration and residential treatment. With a cost of $4,500/youth, a recent policy report concluded that MST was the most cost-effective of a wide range of intervention programs aimed at serving serious juvenile offenders.

Contact Information

For more information about Multisystemic Therapy in Adams County, contact  Gary J. Soltys at Adelphoi Village by calling (724) 520-1111.  

For more information about Adams County Children and Youth Services, call (717) 337-0110, and for more information about Juvenile Probation Services, call (717) 337-9803.