Q. Do the schools and programs that belong to NATSAP provide any research related to the effectiveness of out of home treatment?
A. A majority of member schools and programs have conducted their own assessments of outcome with surveys and studies. The Outdoor Behavior Industry Council (OBHIC) (the majority of whom are NATSAP members) has pioneered a program of independent research assessment of program impact and effectiveness. These research results have been published in several scholarly journals (
www.obhic.com/research)
Beginning in 2005, NATSAP began to require more demographic data from members as part of the membership application and renewal process. In 2006, the Board of Directors of NATSAP launched the Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs to provide a forum for scholarly articles and research concerning residential care. The Board of NATSAP has also called for several ?Research Summits? in 2006 in order to determine how best to support organization wide research related to out of home care.
Another large outcome research project, involving more than 10 NATSAP programs, is in its third year of data collection and analysis. Over one thousand former clients of out of home treatment settings are participating. NATSAP looks forward to supporting more research that is increasingly sophisticated and can be used to improve care for program participants and their families.