Correspondence between child dysfunction and program intrusion: Evidence of a continuum of care across five child mental health programs

A fundamental goal of the continuum of care concept is high correspondence between child dysfunction and program intrusiveness. Yet the small body of relevant research has identified major discrepancies. We used the Child Behavior Checklist to compare entry‐level behavior problems of children from five child mental health programs sequenced in order of level of intrusiveness: Outpatient clinic, parent training, intensive family preservation services (IFPS), residental care, and inpatient hospitalization. Our results contrast with existing research by showing correspondence between level of child dysfunction and program intrusiveness. A possible reason for our contrasting results is that we included a larger number of mental health programs than were used in previous studies. These results are important because they reflect the continuum of care concept being put into practice and support the assertion that increasing mental health options with alternative community mental health programs increases the chances of appropriate treatment for children in trouble.