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Phyllis Solomon

Publications and source records attributed to Phyllis Solomon.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Involvement in the child welfare system among mothers with serious mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to determine the association between maternal schizophrenia and major affective disorders (serious mental illness) and child custody arrangements in a sample of Medicaid-eligible mothers. METHODS: Medicaid eligibility and claims data were merged with data from the child welfare system in Philadelphia for 1995 to 2000. The sample comprised 4,827 female residents of Philadelphia between the ages of 15 and 45 as of 1996, who were initially eligible for Medicaid through Aid to Families With Dependent Children between 1995 and 1996 and who had at least one family member younger than 18 years at the beginning of the study period. Logistic regression was used to determine association between maternal mental illness and involvement in the child welfare system. RESULTS: Among the 4,827 mothers, 7.2 percent had a serious mental illness and 4.4 percent had other psychiatric diagnoses. More than 14 percent of mothers with serious mental illness received child welfare services, compared with 10.8 percent of those with other psychiatric diagnoses, and 4.2 percent of those without a diagnosis. After the analyses adjusted for a past inpatient episode, race or ethnicity, and age, mothers with serious mental illness were almost three times as likely to have had involvement in the child welfare system or to have children who had an out-of-home placement. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest the urgent need for increased planning and coordination between the child welfare and mental health systems, including provision of parenting support as part of mental health treatment for mothers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Contrasting jail diversion and in-jail services for mental illness and substance abuse: do they serve the same clients?

Baseline data from a study of jail diversion services and in-jail behavioral health services were used to examine the differences in clients served by these two models of responding to people with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse problems in the criminal justice system. Clients of the diversion service had more acute psychiatric symptoms and were more likely to have a diagnosis of psychosis NOS. Clients of the in-jail service were more likely to have been on probation or parole in the past and to have received substance abuse treatment. Different service models may attract and serve different populations of clients. Diversion services may cast a wider net that includes clients who may not have otherwise been involved in forensic services.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Evaluating cultural competence among behavioral health professionals.

Persistent racial and ethnic disparities in access and utilization of behavioral health services have highlighted the need for cultural competence among providers. In response, many agencies are now implementing education and training programs to ensure that behavioral health professionals improve their skills when serving diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural populations. The evaluation of these trainings is vital to ensure that they both improve the cultural competence of providers and promote recovery among persons with severe mental illnesses. This paper discusses the philosophical and practical issues related to measuring cultural competence, based on the evaluation of statewide cultural competence trainings for behavioral health professionals. The evaluation process illustrates the challenges of operationalizing cultural competence, balancing the needs of program implementers and evaluators, and developing a robust and feasible evaluation design, which assesses outcomes both for persons in recovery and providers.

Behavioral Medicine↗
PubMed2004

Maternal custody status and living arrangements of children of women with severe mental illness.

The authors report results of a pilot study on the custody status of 20 women with severe mental illnesses who were parents of a total of 76 children. The mothers had some of their children living with them and others dispersed among kinship and nonkinship arrangements. Qualitative findings illustrate how bewildered these women were about the status of children placed outside the home and their ability to obtain custody or maintain contact with their children. The authors suggest that social workers working with women with severe mental illness inquire about and "map" the whereabouts of women's children, help mothers mediate legal and social services delivery systems, and help mothers exercise their rights when there is risk of termination of parental rights.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Provider contact with families of adults with severe mental illness: taking a closer look.

This exploratory study examined the frequency and nature of providers' contact with families of persons with severe mental illness. Fifty-nine providers in six community mental health programs completed a self-administered survey. A subsample of 8 providers also completed two in-depth interviews. Although most providers had some family contact, the contact was restricted to a small percent of their caseloads. The nature of contact that providers have with families is generally limited by their professional role. Best practice guidelines for the treatment of mental illness and agency administrators responsible for instituting these guidelines will need to clarify the types of providers who are expected to implement various aspects of family involvement.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Peer support/peer provided services underlying processes, benefits, and critical ingredients.

The article defines peer support/peer provided services; discusses the underlying psychosocial processes of these services; and delineates the benefits to peer providers, individuals receiving services, and mental health service delivery system. Based on these theoretical processes and research, the critical ingredients of peer provided services, critical characteristics of peer providers, and mental health system principles for achieving maximum benefits are discussed, along with the level of empirical evidence for establishing these elements.

Humans↗
PubMed2003

Provider and family beliefs regarding the causes of severe mental illness.

The study examined mental health providers' and families' of adults with severe mental illness beliefs regarding the etiology of mental illness. A countywide sample of 87 providers and family members was collected over a course of six months as part of a consensus building process to institute family education. Beliefs regarding the biological basis of mental illness are not replacing family causation beliefs for providers and families. Instead, providers and families hold biological and family causation theories regarding the etiology of mental illness simultaneously. Providers with less family contact were more likely to believe that families may cause mental illness, when controlling for race, gender, education, and years working in mental health. Families with negative provider experience are also more likely to hold family causation beliefs, when controlling for race, gender, and education. Further research is needed to explore the effects of provider and family beliefs regarding the etiology of mental illness on provider-family contact and collaboration.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2003

Professionals' responsibilities in releasing information to families of adults with mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: Statutes, ethical standards, and local confidentiality guidelines have been developed to guide providers' decisions about releasing information from mental health records. However, confidentiality policies often do not specifically discuss the release of confidential information to the families of persons with mental illness. This study examined how providers and family members interpret and implement confidentiality policies about the release of information to families. METHOD: S: Self-administered surveys were completed by 59 providers from outpatient, partial hospitalization, and case management programs in Pennsylvania. In-depth interviews were also conducted with a subsample of eight providers. In addition, 68 families of persons with mental illness receiving services from these providers completed self-administered surveys. RESULTS: Ninety-five percent of the providers interpreted confidentiality policies conservatively, believing that they could not share confidential information without the consent of the client, However, 54 percent were confused about the types of information that are confidential. Implementation of confidentiality policies varied among the providers. Regression analysis indicated that providers' perceptions of confidentiality as a barrier to collaboration were significantly associated with their attitudes toward collaboration between the providers, consumers, and family members. Few families understood the requirements of confidentiality policies or the types of information that are confidential. CONCLUSION: S: Confidentiality policies may be posing a barrier to collaboration between providers, consumers, and family members, which has been recommended by various experts for the treatment of mental illness. Clear guidelines for the release of confidential information to families are needed.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Predicting incarceration of clients of a psychiatric probation and parole service.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the extent to which clinical characteristics, psychiatric status, and use of mental health services explain incarceration for technical violations of probation or parole rather than incarceration for new offenses. METHODS: A total of 250 clients of an urban psychiatric probation and parole service were screened for psychiatric diagnoses and monitored with a 12-month data collection protocol. Longitudinal analysis was used to explain incarceration on new charges, incarceration on technical violations of probation and parole, or absence of incarceration. RESULTS: Eighty-five individuals (34 percent) were incarcerated during the follow-up period. Forty-four (18 percent) were incarcerated for a new offense, and 41 (16 percent) were incarcerated for a technical violation. Participation in mental health treatment was associated with a lower risk of incarceration for a technical violation. Intensive monitoring by mental health providers, such as through case management and medication management, were significant risk factors for incarceration for a technical violation. Clients who were incarcerated for a technical violation were more than six times as likely to have received intensive case management services. CONCLUSIONS: The role of mental health services in reducing the risk of incarceration remains mixed. Providing services that emphasize monitoring tends to increase the risk of incarceration for technical violations of criminal justice sanctions. However, any participation in treatment and motivation to participate in treatment appears to reduce the risk of incarceration.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Differentiating psychiatric readmissions from nonreadmissions.

This study tracked a cohort of 550 discharged state hospital patients through an entire publicly-funded mental health aftercare system. Data from hospital and community agency records indicate that neither social-demographic nor clinical characteristics successfully differentiated psychiatric readmissions from nonreadmissions. Use of aftercare services--in terms of the variety available and their relevance to discharged patients' assessed needs--had the greatest influence on predicting the likelihood of readmission.

Adolescent↗