Evidence-Based Functional Family Therapy  (FFT)

Youth must meet all of the following criteria for admission to FFT: 1) The youth must be under the age of 21. 2) The initial assessment completed by a LMHP, LMHP-R, LMHPRP, LMHP-S provides evidence of symptoms and functional impairment that the youth has met criteria for a primary diagnosis consistent with the most recent version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual that falls within the categories of disruptive behavior, mood, substance use or trauma and stressor-related disorders. There may be additional primary behavioral health diagnoses that may benefit from the interventions of FFT that may be considered on a case-by-case basis under EPSDT. 3) Within the past 30 calendar days, the youth has demonstrated at least one of the following that puts the youth at risk of out of home placement: a) Persistent and deliberate attempts to intentionally inflict serious injury on another person; b) Ongoing dangerous or destructive behavior that is evidenced by repeated occurrences of behaviors that are endangering to self or others are difficult to control, cause distress, or negatively affect the youth’s health; c) Increasing and persistent symptoms associated with depression (e.g. chronic irritability, anhedonia, significant changes in sleep/eating, disrupted emotion regulation, …) or anxiety (e.g. rumination, panic attacks, hypervigilance, dissociation, …), in combination with externalizing problems (e.g. physical and verbal aggression, truancy, stealing, property destruction, lying, etc.) that have contributed to decreased functioning in the community; d) Ongoing substance use or dependency that interfere with the youth’s interpersonal relationships and functioning in the community. e) The youth is returning home from out‐of‐home placement and FFT is needed as step down service from an out-of-home placement. 4) The youth’s successful reintegration or maintenance in the community is dependent upon an integrated and coordinated treatment approach that involves intensive family/caregiver partnership through the FFT model. Participation in an alternative community-based service would not provide the same opportunities for effective intervention for the youth’s problem behaviors. 5) There is a family member or other committed caregiver available to participate in this intensive service. 6) Arrangements for supervision at home/community are adequate to ensure a reasonable degree of safety and a safety plan has been established or will be quickly established by the FFT program as clinically indicated.