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.