Fire setting is one of the most challenging behaviors for the child welfare system. However, existing knowledge about its prevalence and correlates has been limited to research on single programs. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services initiated a uniform assessment process at entry into state custody using a trauma-informed…

Few studies have examined the epidemiology of preschoolers' psychopathology. This study included 796 4-year-old children recruited from schools and pediatric practices in a diverse, urban area. Psychiatric disorder was assessed by a structured interview adapted for preschool children and by questionnaire. The most common disorders were…

Illinois special educators' (N=75) rankings of prevalence of crime victimization and delinquency among educable mentally retarded, behaviorally disordered, and learning-disabled students matched rankings seen in state crime report records. Behaviorally disordered students were more often victims and perpetuators of violent crime than were the…

This study investigated the role of an early educational intervention and child-, family-, peer-, and school-level predictors on court-reported juvenile delinquency. Data were provided from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an ongoing investigation of the scholastic and social development of more than 1,500 low-income youths (93% of whom were…

This report summarizes an analysis of the Illinois State Board of Education's (ISBE) Funding and Child Tracking System (FACTS) for students with emotional/behavioral disabilities (EBD) from 1989-1996. The data indicate: (1) the numbers of youth identified with EBD as a primary disability increased by 13 percent; (2) older children, male children,…