Assessment of therapeutic relationship of community-agency workers.

This article reports on the ratings of the personal and professional characteristics of community-based workers for children and adolescents who had recently been released from a psychiatric inpatient service. The child/adolescent's family members/caregivers and the community workers both responded to the same items of a questionnaire. Families/caregivers rated the community workers with whom they were the most and the least satisfied. Community workers rated themselves in relation to these study children and/or their families. Findings indicate that both family members/caregivers and the community workers themselves saw community workers performing relatively well in the areas of providing information and offering support to families. Likewise, both assessed the service providers as having the greatest deficits in the area of teaching skills for child/adolescent home management. Suggestions for meeting the needs of the families and for ensuring that a system of care for child/adolescents is child-centered and family-focused are discussed.