Abstract
This follow-up study to determine the effectiveness of a child psychiatric unit found evidence to support a program emphasizing a predetermined period of hospitalization. Most measures of family satisfaction, behaviour and social function improved significantly. The unit appears to treat older children as well as those less than 9, children from fighting families as well as those with less fighting, and sexually abused children as well as physically abused children. The program includes: 2 weeks of preadmission evaluations, 5 weeks hospitalization and 5 weeks of follow-up, placement decisions made before admission, primary responsibility for front line staff and treatment programs composed of various combinations of techniques from a list of 65 possible techniques.