As the Research and Evaluation Director at CIBHS, the BHDP’s Owner and CEO evaluated the MAT process for identifying the strengths and needs of newly-detained children and their families in Los Angeles County. This evaluation was a collaborative effort with the Los Angeles County Office of Child Protection, Department of Mental Health, and Department of Children and Family Services. The evaluation team worked with Los Angeles County to design performance measures to assess the timeliness and quality of the assessment process, along with linkage to treatment and integration into case planning, and to evaluate those measures using existing data collected by the County and contracted providers. The evaluation design was reviewed and approved by the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court and youth and family advocates.

As part of the evaluation design process, parents of all eligible youth and all eligible youth aged 12 and above were notified about the planned evaluation and provided the opportunity to ask questions or opt-out of the evaluation. The evaluation also included demographic analyses to identify disparities in the assessment process based on race, ethnicity, and language of children and families. The final evaluation report has been provided as a work sample accompanying this proposal.