Relatively little attention has been paid to the dimension of time in the design of social work interventions. Critical time intervention (CTI), an empirically supported psychosocial intervention intended to reduce the risk of homelessness by enhancing continuity of support for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) during the transition from institutions to community living, is a model that was explicitly developed to address a timing-specific need. After describing the model and summarizing research that supports its effectiveness, this article considers examples of other time-sensitive interventions in social work and related fields and speculates on some potential advantages to such strategies. Further attention to various dimensions of timing in the design and evaluation of social work interventions is warranted.
Andersen, P.K., & Keiding, N. ( 2006). Survival and event history analysis. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
2.
Anthony, W., Rogers, E.S., & Farkas, M. ( 2003). Research on evidence-based practices: Future directions in an era of recovery. Community Mental Health Journal, 39, 101-114.
3.
Baltes, P., & Smith, J. ( 2003). New frontiers in the future of aging: From successful aging of the young old to the dilemmas of the fourth age. Gerontology, 49, 123-135.
4.
Birchwood, M. ( 2000). Early intervention and sustaining the management of vulnerability . Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34(Suppl), S181-S184.
5.
Bond, G., Drake, R.E., Mueser, K., & Latimer, E. ( 2001). Assertive community treatment for people with severe mental illness: Critical ingredients and impact on patients. Disease Management & Health Outcomes, 9, 141-159.
6.
Caton, C., Wyatt, R., & Felix, A. ( 1992). Follow-up of chronically homeless mentally ill men. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1639-1642.
7.
Coldwell, C.M., & Bender, W.S. ( 2007). The effectiveness of assertive community treatment for homeless populations with severe mental illness: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 393-399.
8.
Conover, S., Gilfillan, S., Tomita, A., Manuel, J., Feeback, R., Souvik, P., et al. (2007). Developing a fidelity measure for critical time intervention. Enhancing the impact of mental health services research . Washington, DC: National Institute of Mental Health.
9.
Cuffel, B.J., Held, M., & Goldman, W. ( 2002). Predictive models and the effectiveness of strategies for improving outpatient follow-up under managed care. Psychiatric Services, 53, 1438-1443.
10.
Draine, J., & Herman, D.B. ( 2007). Critical time intervention for reentry from prison for persons with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 58, 1577-1581.
11.
Ellison, M.L., Rogers, E.S., Sciarappa, K., Cohen, M., & Forbess, R. ( 1995). Characteristics of mental health case management: Results of a national survey. Journal of Ment Health Administration , 22, 101-112.
12.
Goldacre, M., Seagroatt, V., & Hawton, K. ( 1993). Suicide after discharge from psychiatric inpatient care . Lancet, 342, 283-286.
13.
Goldman, H., Morrissey, J., & Ridgely, S. ( 1994). Evaluating the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program on chronic mental illness. Milbank Quarterly, 72, 37-47.
14.
Halfon, N., & Hochstein, M. ( 2002). Life course health development: An integrated framework for developing health, policy, and research. Milbank Quarterly , 80, 433-479.
15.
Herman, D., Conover, S., Felix, A., Nakagawa, A., & Mills, D. ( 2007). Critical time intervention: an empirically supported model for preventing homelessness in high risk groups. Journal of Primary Prevention, 28, 295-312.
16.
Herman, D., Opler, L., Felix, A., Valencia, E., Wyatt, R., & Susser, E. ( 2000). Critical time intervention: Impact on psychiatric symptoms . Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 188, 135-140.
17.
Herman, D.B., Susser, E.S., Jandorf, L., Lavelle, J., & Bromet, E.J. ( 1998). Homelessness among individuals with psychotic disorders hospitalized for the first time: Findings from the Suffolk County Mental Health Project. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 109-113.
18.
Hoyer, E., Mortensen, P., & Olesen, A. ( 2000). Mortality and causes of death in a total national sample of patients with affective disorders admitted for the first time between 1973 and 1993. British Journal of Psychiatry, 176, 76-82.
19.
Ilgen, M.A., Hu, K.U., Moos, R.H., & McKellar, J. ( 2008). Continuing care after inpatient psychiatric treatment for patients with psychiatric and substance use disorders. Psychiatric Services, 59, 982-988.
20.
Kasprow, W.J., & Rosenheck, R.A. (2007). Outcomes of critical time intervention case management of homeless veterans after psychiatric hospitalization . Psychiatric Services, 58, 929-935.
21.
Kazdin, A.E., & Nock, M.K. ( 2003). Delineating mechanisms of change in child and adolescent therapy: Methodological issues and research recommendations. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 44, 1116-1129.
22.
Laslett, P. ( 1991). A fresh map of life: The emergence of the third age. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
23.
Lennon, M.C., McAllister, W., Kuang, L., & Herman, D.B. ( 2005). Capturing intervention effects over time: Reanalysis of a critical time intervention for homeless mentally ill men. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 1760-1766.
24.
Lipton, F.R., Siegel, C., Hannigan, A., Samuels, J., & Baker, S. ( 2000). Tenure in supportive housing for homeless persons with severe mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 51, 479-486.
25.
Longabaugh, R. ( 2007). The search for mechanisms of change in behavioral treatments for alcohol use disorders: a commentary. Alcoholism Clinical & Experimental Research, 31, 21s-32s.
26.
Marshall, M., & Rathbone, J. ( 2006). Early intervention for psychosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 4, CD004718.
27.
Neugarten, B. ( 1974). Age groups in American society and the rise of the young-old . The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 415, 187-198.
28.
Nock, M.K. ( 2007). Conceptual and design essentials for evaluating mechanisms of change. Alcoholism Clincial & Experimental Research , 31, 4s-12s.
29.
Olds, D.L., Eckenrode, J., Henderson, C.R. Jr. , Kitzman, H., Powers, J., Cole, R., et al. (1997). Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect. Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278, 637-643.
30.
Olfson, M., Mechanic, D., Hansell, S., Boyer, C., & Walkup, J. ( 1999). Prediction of homelessness within three months of discharge among inpatients with schizophrenia. Psychiatric Services , 50, 667-673.
31.
Olivet, J., Johnston, S., & Zerger, S. ( 2009). Evidence-based practice in community-based social work: A multi-media strategy. Newton, MA: Center for Social Innovation, Inc.
32.
Rosenheck, R.A., Lam, J., Morrissey, J.P., Calloway, M.O., Stolar, M., & Randolph, F. ( 2002). Service systems integration and outcomes for mentally ill homeless persons in the ACCESS program. Access to Community Care and Effective Services and Supports. Psychiatric Services, 53, 958-966.
33.
Samuels, J., Tang, D., O’Callaghan, S., Barrow, S., Lawinski, T., & Travers, N. ( 2006). The impact of the family critical time intervention on homeless children: Final report to the National Institute of Mental Health . Orangeburg, NY: Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research.
34.
Steadman, H., Mulvey, E., Monahan, J., Robbins, P., Applebaum, P., Grisso, T., et al. (1998). Violence by people discharged from acute psychiatric inpatient facilities and by others in the same neighborhoods. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 393-401.
35.
Stein, L.I., & Test, M.A. ( 1980). Alternative to mental hospital treatment. I. Conceptual model, treatment program, and clinical evaluation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 392-397.
36.
Susser, E., Valencia, E., Conover, S., Felix, A., Tsai, W., & Wyatt, R. ( 1997). Preventing recurrent homelessness among mentally ill men: A ‘‘critical time’’ intervention after discharge from a shelter. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 256-262.
37.
Suzman, R., & Riley, M. ( 1985). Introducing the ‘oldest old.’Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly/Health and Society, 63, 177-186.
38.
Troister, T., Links, P.S., & Cutcliffe, J. ( 2008). Review of predictors of suicide within 1 year of discharge from a psychiatric hospital. Current Psychiatry Reports, 10, 60-65.
39.
Tsemberis, S.J. ( 1999). From streets to homes: an innovative approach to supported housing for homeless adutls with psychiatric disabilities. Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 225-241.
40.
Valencia, E., Susser, E., & McQuiston, H. ( 1996). Critical time points in the clinical care of homeless mentally ill individuals. In J. Vaccaro & G. Clark (Eds.), Practicing psychiatry in the community: A manual (pp. 259-276). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
41.
Valencia, E., Susser, E., Torres, J., Felix, A., & Conover, S. ( 1997). Critical time intervention for homeless mentally ill individuals in transition from shelter to community living. In W. Breakey & J. Thompson (Eds.), Mentally ill and homeless: Special programs for special needs (pp. 75-94). Newark, NJ: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.
42.
Valencia, E., Van Hemert, A., Van Hoeken, D., & Van der Plas, A. (2006). Gestructureerde zorgtoeleiding met Critical Time Intervention. Sociale Psychiatrie, 78, 41-47.
43.
Vinovskis, M. ( 1999). Do federal compensatory education programs really work? A brief historical analysis of Title I and Head Start. American Journal of Education, 107, 187-209.
44.
Zigler, E., & Muenchow, S. ( 1992). Head Start: The inside story of America’s most successful educational experiment. New York: Basic Books.
