Welcome to the Rocky Mountain MST Network​

Improving Outcomes for Youth and Communities

A community’s unique culture, challenges and opportunities influence the well-being of families and children. That is why the Rocky Mountain MST Network focuses on the child, the family and the community in our work. We collaborate with agencies, communities, tribes and governmental entities to support the development, implementation and evaluation of Multisystemic Therapy (MST), an intervention designed to promote emotional and behavioral health and keep children and youth with their families and in their communities. Our work reduces juvenile justice and child welfare involvement — and costs — by working with agencies to deliver MST.

The goal of our partnerships are to provide strong localized support, working together to create strategies that are effective for agencies and the families they serve.

Experts in Multisystemic Therapy

We support over 30 teams throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Washington State and Texas delivering Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for adolescents. MST is an intensive, home-based treatment model for families with children ages 12–17 who have serious delinquency and substance use problems — including gang involvement, runaway behaviors and significant family discord — and are at high risk for out-of-home placement and/or juvenile justice involvement.

Support for Multisystemic Therapy

MST delivers superior clinical results for families at a dramatic cost savings for communities. Therapists work in the home, school and community to provide caregivers with the tools they need to transform the lives of youth.

An Emphasis on Evidence

The Rocky Mountain MST Network (RMMN) improves child and youth mental health and reduces juvenile-justice and child-welfare involvement by increasing the availability of evidence-based interventions for families. We support communities in adoption of new practices, including identifying needs, matching needs to potential programs, creating implementation plans, and exploring opportunities to generate new knowledge about implementation of evidence-based practices.

History

The Rocky Mountain MST Network, formerly known as the Center for Effective Interventions (CEI), was founded in 2000 by David Bernstein. Originally based at Metropolitan State University of Denver, the Center joined the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work (DU GSSW) in 2015. In July 2021, the Center changed its name to Rocky Mountain MST Network and moved to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus as part of the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect.

Collaborating for Better Outcomes

Our partners and collaborators — including MST Services (Multisystemic Therapy) — share our belief in the importance of effective intervention as a key element of social work.

The Rocky Mountain MST Network Team

Suzanne Kerns, Network Partner Director
Dana Garofalini, Co-Director & MST Expert
Chris Mason, Co-Director & MST Expert
Cory Robbins, MST Expert
Alyssa Showers, MST Expert
Julia Wagenaar, MST Associate Program Manager

Practice Requirements

Certain practice requirements are important to ensure high-quality services. These requirements include identifying training and consultation expectations; the completion of all necessary adherence-measure instruments; and creation of internal polices, such as flexible appointment schedules, maintaining caseloads of 4–6 families, monitoring duration of treatment, and other therapist supports.

Preparatory Process

Agencies participate in a preparatory process that encompasses topics such as securing funding, developing referral criteria and obtaining memoranda of understanding between agencies. This process maximizes the chances of having a sustainable program that reliably provides good clinical outcomes.

Training

Once site readiness activities are successfully completed and the necessary contracts are signed, therapists may be trained in MST and begin serving clients.