Evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program
For the Center for Mental Health Services, Macro designed and conducts the national evaluation to track the development of innovative systems of care and to examine their effectiveness in improving child mental health and family outcomes. Our evaluation examines both the children being served by the initiative and its processes and outcomes. We examine how systems of care are defined and developed at the local level and analyze the effects of the system of care approach on child and family outcomes. In addition, we conducted a study of intervention fidelity, examining the congruence between a program’s original design and what clients actually experience during implementation of that design—specifically whether grantees developed systems of care according to the original system of care principles and values, and whether individual clients received services as expected. To study overall experiences with services and the service system, we administered experience and satisfaction questionnaires to families, youth, and providers. More recently, we employed randomized clinical trials to measure the effects of evidence-based interventions and survey methods to ascertain the degree to which evidence-based interventions are implemented and the variables affecting implementation.

National Mental Health Information Center
Macro provides information services for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Mental Health Information Center, operated by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). These services included responding to telephone, written, fax, and e-mail inquiries from people requesting information on mental health treatment. We also provide warehouse and order fulfillment services, graphics services, marketing and outreach services, and Web site design and maintenance. The Web site underwent two redesigns to keep it on par with changing technology and maintain its popularity with mental health professionals, students, and users of mental health services. The site has won many awards for innovation in technology and consistently reliable mental health content.