An Evaluation of a Community Collaboration Approach to Psychosocial Rehabilitation

ABSTRACT This article reports on the results of a multiagency collaboration demonstration project that was designed to replicate the salient features of an exemplary practice, single-agency program of psychosocial rehabilitation for persons with serious mental illness (SMI). The community collaboration extended over two phases for 2 years and involved over 20 mental health service providers. The demonstration project itself was designed to be a replication of the Village Integrated Services Agency (Village ISA) of Long Beach, California. Additionally, this article reports the results of a rigorous evaluation of the project. The treatment group outcomes were substantially superior to all control group measures at or beyond the 0.05 level of significance. With due regard for limitations imposed by a small sample size (n = 50), the project demonstrates that the replicated model of intervention can be effectively implemented through a collaborative organizational structure involving a coalition of agency service providers. KEYWORDS: Collaborationpsychosocial rehabilitationevaluationVillage ISA This project was funded by SAMHSA Grant #A0527G1 and approved by the Behavioral and Social Services IRB of the Ohio State University (Protocol #2003B0340). The authors would like to express their gratitude to Jeni Squiric of the Ohio State University Statistical Consulting Services for her assistance with data analysis and their thanks to the clients of Concord Counseling Services who consented to participate in this project. Notes Weisburd, D. (Ed.). (1993). Integrated service agency [Entire issue], The Journal of the California Alliance for the Mentally Ill, 4(2).