Common patterns of service use in children's mental health

Evaluators and program administrators need simple multivariate descriptions of mental health service utilization. This study demonstrates the utility of cluster analytic patterns of care in a sample of 979 children receiving formal mental health services. Six patterns were identified: (a) brief outpatient; (b) extended outpatient; (c) hospital with outpatient; (d) non-residential more-than-outpatient; (e) extended residential; and (f) atypical heavy-service outliers. Children in high-co st clusters had ab eve-average clinical severity. Children in a continuum of care used three patterns (b, d and e) more often, while those served through a traditional fee-for-service system used two clusters (a and c) more often. Service utilization clusters provide a useful and easily-understood vocabulary for summarizing children's quantity of use of various mental health services. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.