Building Outcomes With Observation-Based Supervision: An FFT Effectiveness Trial

The proposed effectiveness study examines differences in treatment outcomes of an observation-based supervision (BOOST) versus supervision as usual (SAU). The study will be implemented within 16 teams delivering FFT services at 11 sites in the California Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) system. The 16 FFT therapist teams will be randomly assigned either to BOOST or SAU. Each team will have 3 therapists who will treat 6 families for a total of 18 families per team. Thus, each condition will include 24 therapists who will treat 144 families. The project will be implemented in four staggered waves to establish a more even rate of data collection and treatment implementation to enhance the feasibility of the study by keeping staffing and project costs more constant across the 5-year project. Each wave will involve 4 FFT teams, 2 receiving BOOST and 2 receiving SAU. Teams will be randomized to supervision conditions. Outcome assessments of parents and adolescents will be conducted at baseline and at 4 months and 16 months after treatment initiation.