Demographic characteristics of individuals who received Project Liberty crisis counseling services

OBJECTIVES: This article describes demographic characteristics of service recipients and their patterns of use of crisis counseling services provided under Project Liberty during the 27 months after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. It also examines the extent to which service recipients reflected the demographic characteristics of their home communities. METHODS: A total of 753,015 service encounter logs submitted by 177 providers were analyzed to determine rates of use by different demographic groups and to evaluate patterns of use over time with goodness-of-fit and logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 687,848 individual crisis counseling sessions were provided to an estimated 465,428 individuals, including large numbers of persons from racial or ethnic minority groups and non-English-speaking individuals. Most of these services were provided to residents of the five New York City boroughs, with a small percentage of services to residents from the ten surrounding counties. Most services were provided in community settings rather than provider offices. African-American and Hispanic individuals showed the greatest increase in rates of accessing services over time. Follow-up visits were significantly more likely to be by Caucasians than by non-Caucasians, and children were more likely than adults to receive follow-up visits. Demographic characteristics of individuals using Project Liberty crisis counseling services generally were representative of the five boroughs and ten other counties constituting the greater metropolitan region and representative of estimated need. CONCLUSIONS: Project Liberty provided services that were accessible to individuals of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.     

Use of Project Liberty counseling services over time by individuals in various risk categories

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined temporal changes in the rates at which people sought access to Project Liberty services after the attacks of September 11, 2001, according to risk category (family of missing or deceased, persons directly affected, uniformed personnel, other rescue or recovery workers, schoolchildren, displaced employed and unemployed workers, persons with disabilities, and the general population). METHODS: First visits to individual counseling services, as determined from logs of 465,428 service encounters, were proportioned among risk categories and plotted across 27 months. RESULTS: Individuals who lost family members accounted for 40 percent of visits in the first month but dropped to 5 percent or fewer visits by five months. Uniformed personnel used disproportionately larger percentages of services after the first year. Occupationally displaced and unemployed workers sought counseling at relatively steady rates. CONCLUSIONS: Postdisaster counseling should be made available for extended periods, with shifting emphases to meet the changing needs of high-risk groups.     

Service utilization and event reaction patterns among children who received Project Liberty counseling services

OBJECTIVES: This study examined service utilization and event reaction patterns among children who used crisis counseling services provided under Project Liberty for 27 months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. METHODS: The authors analyzed logs of 681,318 service encounters submitted by Project Liberty counselors, paying particular attention to demographic characteristics and reported event reactions. RESULTS: Nine percent of service recipients reached by community-based Project Liberty providers were children, whereas census data for the 15 counties and boroughs served by Project Liberty indicated that children constituted 25 percent of the population. Service use as a function of race or ethnicity and of gender was consistent with census data. Similar to findings for adults, the most common emotional event reactions reported for children were experiencing sadness and tearfulness, being anxious and fearful, having difficulty concentrating, experiencing irritability and anger, having intrusive thoughts or images, and having difficulty sleeping. Behavioral event reactions listed on service logs suggested that older children (12 to 17 years) were more likely to use drugs whereas elementary school-age children were more likely to display signs of anxiety, isolation and withdrawal, and difficulties with concentration and memory. CONCLUSIONS: Sensitivity to differences in the event reaction patterns shown by younger and older children may be useful in refining treatments to help reduce the psychological impact of children's trauma after terrorist incidents.     

Clusters of event reactions among recipients of Project Liberty mental health counseling

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine a pattern in the frequency with which individuals who manifested distress reactions resembling diagnostic syndromes of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder accessed services provided by Project Liberty. METHODS: Hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to 31 reactions to stress (event reactions) shown by 465,428 recipients of Project Liberty counseling, to determine how well event reactions mapped onto traditional diagnostic criteria. Service recipients were tracked when they first sought Project Liberty counseling during the 27 months after the attacks. Those who reported three or more reactions associated with these clusters were characterized as having possible diagnosable conditions. RESULTS: Strong consistent clusters corresponding to traumatic stress and depressive symptoms emerged, with 26 percent, 16 percent, and 8 percent of service recipients rated as having possible PTSD, major depressive disorder, or both, respectively. Taken together, this group constituted over 40 percent of service recipients served by Project Liberty almost every month throughout the 27 months of its existence. CONCLUSIONS: Event reactions, as reported by Project Liberty crisis counselors, many of whom were nonclinicians, mapped coherently onto diagnostic syndromes, suggesting that a checklist of such reactions may be useful to disaster counselors as a cost-effective screening and planning instrument. The steady entry over time into Project Liberty counseling by a substantial number of individuals experiencing high levels of distress underscores the need for providing long-term access to mental health services postdisaster.     

Characteristics of Project Liberty clients that predicted referrals to intensive mental health services

OBJECTIVE: The authors describe characteristics of Project Liberty crisis counseling recipients that predicted referral to more intensive professional mental health treatments over the two-year period after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. METHODS: Random-effects ordinal regression models were applied to data from 684,500 logs of Project Liberty service encounters for individual counseling sessions. RESULTS: Overall, about 9 percent of individual counseling visits ended with a referral to professional mental health services. Individuals needing intensive mental health treatment continued to enter Project Liberty for two years after the World Trade Center attacks. The strongest predictor of referral was having reactions to the attack that fell into a greater number of the four domains assessed-behavioral, emotional, physical, or cognitive domains. Individuals with reactions in four domains were most likely to be referred. Those who had greater attack-related exposure were also more likely to be referred. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to provide long-term access to brief counseling and triage services and to target these interventions specifically to individuals displaying greater distress or impairment and having more traumatic exposure.     

A psychometric analysis of Project Liberty's adult enhanced services referral tool

OBJECTIVES: Project Liberty was the first federally funded crisis counseling program to offer evidence-informed treatments to crisis counseling recipients in need of more intensive clinical intervention. The Adult Enhanced Services Referral Tool was developed as a screening instrument for making and monitoring referrals to enhanced services. This study aimed to examine how well the tool functioned for identifying persons who would perceive a need for professional treatment. METHODS: A one-page tool was created that assessed demographic characteristics, risk categories, and psychological reactions to the focal event, September 11, 2001. Psychosocial reactions were assessed by the 12-item SPRINT-E, which is an expanded version of the Short Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT). The SPRINT-E was embedded in the Adult Enhanced Services Referral Tool. Data were collected from 788 clients who received crisis counseling between June and October 2003. RESULTS: The SPRINT-E is a unidimensional measure of distress and dysfunction. Internal consistency was excellent for the total sample (alpha=.93) and subsamples. Among the 543 clients offered referral, 71 percent accepted. Among those offered referral, the number of intense reactions (score of 4, quite a bit, or 5, very much) was by far the strongest predictor of referral acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: The SPRINT-E was successfully integrated into the crisis counseling program and provided an apparently successful, empirical basis for referral from counseling to professional treatment. Results of the brief psychological assessment provided a stronger basis for referral to treatment than membership in a risk category (for example, family member of deceased) alone.     

An analysis of treatment services provided in group homes for adults labeled mentally ill.

Although group homes for adults labeled mentally ill have been the focus of significant attention in deinstitutionalization discussions, substantive research on their operation has been lacking. The present study addresses past limitations by focusing on a well-defined sample of small group homes, with higher staffing levels and in-home treatment provided. Thirty homes were randomly selected; all home residents (N = 253) were studied. Data were collected from case managers, residents, and home staff to assess residents' functioning, services and treatments provided, and the environment of the home. The findings were examined in terms of adequacy and appropriateness of care provided in the home, using accepted guidelines. The results indicated that there are aspects of a homelike environment, emotional support from staff, and skill-development activities within the home. However, an institutional focus still seems prevalent, along with limited rehabilitation and socialization activities. Residents expressed high levels of satisfaction, which may reflect their dislike of the group home alternative, e.g., the state hospital. Policy implications are discussed vis-a-vis current efforts to move away from group homes toward supported housing initiatives.     

The effects of vocational services provided to the mentally disabled

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of vocational services provided to mentally disabled clients of the Fresno County Department of Health by the California State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation located in Fresno, California. The findings were (a) 46% were discharged as employed; (b) cost per client was $1,590; (c) cost per success was $3,448; (d) the employed persons entered a variety of competitive jobs; (e) average annual income for persons employed at discharge was $5,539; (f) persons who were employed were less psychiatrically disabled and had a better work history; (g) only 26% of the severely disabled were employed, compared to 50% of the persons who were mildly or moderately disabled; (h) the main benefit of the program appeared to be that of returning less disabled clients with better work histories to work at normative levels shown prior to vocational services; and (i) cost-benefit analysis showed that annual earned income exceeded program cost.     

Use of clients' self-reports to monitor Project Liberty clinicians' fidelity to a cognitive-behavioral intervention

OBJECTIVE: This study examined outcomes associated with clinicians' fidelity to key elements of a cognitive-behavioral treatment intervention developed for Project Liberty's enhanced services counseling program. METHODS: In telephone interviews 60 individuals reported how often their clinicians provided six components considered central to the intervention by the intervention developers. Respondents received services at sites where some (25 to 50 percent) or all clinicians had received training in the intervention. RESULTS: Compared with respondents who received services where only some clinicians had received training (N=19), those who received services where all clinicians had received training (N=41) were significantly more likely to report that their clinicians applied techniques central to the intervention (p<.01). Additionally, those who received services from sites where all clinicians were trained were significantly more likely to report that they had been given homework (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Brief questions to service recipients are a useful and cost-effective way to monitor intervention fidelity.     

The evolution and effectiveness of telephone counseling services

Despite dramatic expansion of telephone counseling services during the last three decades and widespread belief in their preventive and therapeutic value, empirical evidence of their effectiveness is limited, partly because of methodological and practical difficulties associated with research in the field. A review of existing studies indicates that telephone counselors may perform valuable listening, information giving, and referral roles. Evidence is lacking, however, on the ability of telephone counseling to produce behavior change in callers or to reduce suicide rates. Recent studies indicate that contract telephone counseling may have considerable therapeutic potential for monitoring and supporting clients with ongoing problems or chronic disabilities.     

Effectiveness of two methods of obtaining feedback on mental health services provided to anonymous recipients

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined alternative methods for obtaining feedback from people receiving anonymous mental health services via Project Liberty, an initiative that provided free counseling to residents of the New York City area after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. METHODS: Counselors offered all English-speaking and Spanish-speaking adults who used Project Liberty crisis counseling services the opportunity to evaluate Project Liberty via a telephone interview (eight sites) or a brief questionnaire (four sites). RESULTS: A total of 107 service recipients provided feedback via a brief 32-item questionnaire, and 153 gave feedback via a 45-minute telephone interview. Although the overall participation rates were modest (less than 20 percent), nearly three-quarters of those who volunteered to participate in the telephone interview (for which they received $20) did so. Neither gender nor racial or ethnic group was associated with a greater likelihood of participating in one method over another. CONCLUSIONS: Responses to items on the brief questionnaire and in the telephone interview were similar, and offering multiple response methods increased participation rates. Although telephone interviews were more costly than the questionnaire to administer, they provided important additional information about ongoing symptoms and problems that individuals experienced after the attacks. The modest response rates obtained in the evaluation indicate that future evaluations of postdisaster services need to use methodstomaximizeresponse rates and provider adherence to administrative tasks that are critical to the evaluation.     

Predicting counseling psychologists attitudes and clinical judgments with respect to older adults

The purpose of this study was to examine age, gender, training and experience in aging issues, fear of death, and multicultural competence in predicting counseling psychologists’ global attitudes toward older adults and specific clinical judgments concerning a case vignette of an older client. A national sample of 364 practicing counseling psychologists participated in the study. Participants completed a demographic measure, Polizzi's refined version of the Aging Semantic Differential (Polizzi, 2003 Polizzi, KG. 2003. Assessing attitudes toward the elderly: Polizzi's refined version of the Aging Semantic Differential. Educational Gerontology, 29: 197–216. doi:10.1080/713844306[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), a survey of professional bias based on a clinical vignette of a 70-year-old woman (James &; Haley, 1995), the Collett–Lester Fear of Death Scale 3.0 (Lester, &; Abdel-Khalek, 2003), the Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS; Ponterotto, Gretchen, Utsey, Rieger, &; Austin, 2002), and a Training and Experience Questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the extent to which the selected variables predicted more favorable attitudes toward older adults and less professional bias toward an older client beyond prediction by age and gender. Results revealed that older age and higher total scores on the MCKAS predicted less professional bias in clinical judgments. Gender was a significant predictor of global attitudes toward older adults. Findings suggest that multicultural knowledge, awareness, and skills are important in working with older adults.     

Using staff focus groups to refine a feedback process for people who used Project Liberty

Project Liberty provided free counseling services to those affected by the September 11th attacks. Focus groups were conducted with Project Liberty provider staff to gain feedback on their participation in the process of evaluating Project Liberty individual crisis counseling services. Focus groups provided information regarding barriers to eliciting feedback from people who used Project Liberty services that informed planning for the next phase of the evaluation. Focus groups proved to be a valuable method for collecting data from service providers across provider sites that differed geographically, culturally, ethnically, and organizationally, as well as in methods of offering services to individuals with mental health problems related to the attack on the World Trade Centers.     

Characteristics of adults with autism spectrum disorder who use residential services and supports through adult developmental disability services in the United States

BackgroundMany children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) need services and support across their lifespans. Currently many residential and community living supports are delivered through state intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) service systems.MethodA random sample of 11,947 individual users of adult IDD services from 25 states that included 1,459 individuals with an autism diagnosis was analyzed for this study looking at demographic characteristics and living arrangements. Comparisons were made between adults with and without ASD who receive services through the IDD service system.ResultsOverall, individuals with an ASD diagnosis were younger on average, had a higher percentage of males, and had higher percentages of the No Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and Severe ID categories compared to individuals without an ASD diagnosis. There was a significant association between the type of living arrangement and ASD status with a higher percentage of participants with ASD living in a family member’s home, but a lower percentage of people with ASD living in agency apartments, in their own home or an “other” living arrangement. However, with age, gender, and level of ID and challenging behavior taken into account, people with ASD had 29% higher odds of living in a family member’s home but 42% lower odds of living in their own home when compared to people with other developmental disabilities who received residential services through state IDD service systems.ConclusionsThere are key differences in access and utilization of residential services between people with ASD and people without ASD. While state developmental disabilities systems are serving individuals with ASD there are potential influences of state policies regarding ASD eligibility for various residential services. Implications for future research are discussed.