Children and Adolescents Network

Summary The prevalence and outcome data on children with serious emotional disturbance indicate that a significant number of them experience severe mental health, social, and educational problems. These problems are very costly to the child, the family, and the community both socially and financially. While many schools and communities have opted to serve these children in restrictive, out-of-community settings, other communities have developed comprehensive programs to serve these children. The Children and Adolescents Network of DuPage County (Project CANDU) is a program providing comprehensive services to children with SED and their families. The project is based on several components essential to the development of a community-based system of care, including interagency collaboration, target population, principles of care, a needs assessment, individualized care services, and comprehensive evaluation. The rationale for each of these components and how they were implemented, data on the children and families served, and a case study are presented.