ABSTRACT
Emotional/behavioral disorders are common problem behaviors in schools, yet many children with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) do not receive the treatment they need. There are several reasons for the lack of mental health services, including limited school staffing and resources, lack of early identification, and lack of access to community mental health. It is clear from the research that family-centered intervention programs are an effective treatment for both intervening in and preventing EBD, yet schools are not set up to deliver these services. The Family Check-Up (FCU) is a brief, adaptive intervention designed for schools and community settings. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss findings from research on the FCU with elementary and middle school youth. We discuss how random assignment to the FCU has been linked to a range of positive outcomes, including reductions in EBD and a number of other related health outcomes such as depression and substance use. We then discuss the implications of the FCU research with middle school youth for community programming and prevention.
