Polaris-Youth: Product Overview and Key Features

Introduction

Polaris-Youth is a computer-supported, multi-informant system for healing troubled youth. The system was developed under funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) with the objective of supporting treatment that restores hope and helps adolescents bounce back. Polaris-Youth is designed to (a) encourage counselors to address the “stacked risks” (e.g., abuse, poverty, criminality, mental health illness, etc.) that characterize at-risk adolescents; (b) allow counselors to assess adolescent strengths and symptomology; and (c) enable counselors to make informed decisions for planning treatment and monitoring progress.

Polaris-Youth combines state-of-the-art research and technology to help healthcare organizations improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of their services. Through its decision-support features, Polaris-Youth provides standardized, objective information on the adolescents at the individual and group-level. Such data is useful for valid comparisons across programs and providers as well as for documenting treatment outcomes for payers and accreditation organizations.