| History | Mission | Vision | Values | Affiliation | Technology | Adaptations | Strategy | MST Network Partner Organizations | Board | Accomplishments |
MST Services was formed in early 1996, in response to community requests for assistance in developing MST programs. Prior to 1996, support for communities interested in MST program development came from the staff of the main MST research group, the Family Services Research Center (FSRC) of the Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. This research group is a fully grant-funded organization pursuing the development and validation of treatments for youth with serious clinical problems. The FSRC typically has several federally funded research projects at any time.
In the mid-1990’s, the burden of disseminating the MST model to interested communities began to have a detrimental impact on the research productivity of the staff of the FSRC. With the support of the Medical University, the leadership of the FSRC embarked on a multi-year process to form a separate dissemination organization that would operate as an independent sister organization to the research center. These efforts led to the creation of MST Services as a private but university-affiliated and licensed organization.
To help communities implement MST to improve the lives of youth with anti-social behavior and their families.
To be the respected global leader in advancing the dissemination and implementation of MST.
Improving youth outcomes is our sole objective. To this end, our “prime directive” is to make each and every decision based upon what is the “right thing to do” from a clinical and outcome-oriented perspective. Our core values guide all of our actions and decision-making. They are:
Leadership
By achieving our mission and upholding our values, MST Services will serve as a leader and advocate for effective change in child-serving systems.
MST Services is affiliated with the Medical University of South Carolina and the Family Services Research Center through an exclusive license agreement. This license agreement permits MST Services to develop MST programs using the MST technology, and to grant licenses to agencies for use of the technology. These licensed agencies must follow the implementation of procedures developed through research on the MST model. These include specific criteria designed to ensure fidelity to the model and produce positive outcomes.
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an intensive family- and community-based treatment that addresses the multiple determinants of serious antisocial behavior in youth. MST addresses the multiple known factors related to delinquency across the key settings, or systems, within which each youth lives (e.g., family, peers, school, neighborhood). MST strives to promote behavior change within the youth’s natural environment, using the strengths of each system to facilitate change. The strengths of MST include:
In recent years, the evidence of effectiveness of a number of MST adaptations has begun to emerge. MST Services is the central “clearinghouse” for MST adaptations in terms of working with both the adaptation model developers and community stakeholders who want to implement or pilot specific adaptations. For more information about the adaptation development process, click here. The list of MST adaptations currently being evaluated or piloted is as follows:
| Adaptation | Name/ Population/ Behavior/ Setting |
| MST-PSB | Problem Sexual Behavior |
| MST-Psychiatric | Psychiatric Service Needs |
| MST-CAN | Child Abuse and Neglect |
| MST-CM | Contingency Management |
| MST-HC | Juvenile Diabetes/Health Care |
| MST-Drug Court | Drug Court |
| MST-FIT | Family Integrated Transition |
| MST-BSF | Building Strong Families |
| MST-HC | HIV/Health Care |
| MST-EC | Extended Care |
MST Services offers a technology transport strategy that includes program development assistance, a site assessment process, orientation training, weekly telephone consultation on clinical cases, quarterly booster trainings, and ongoing assistance with the development of each MST provider agency’s ability to sustain implementation of MST with fidelity and produce positive outcomes. Improving youth outcomes is our sole objective. To this end, our “prime directive” is to make each and every decision based upon what is the “right thing to do” from a clinical and outcome-oriented perspective.
A key element of the technology transport strategy employed by MST Services is the development of a network of “partner” organizations that are committed to disseminating the MST model with full integrity and fidelity. These MST Network Partner organizations employ staff fully trained in MST program development as well as clinical staff training and development. MST Services maintains with each MST Network Partner organization an ongoing working relationship focused on staff development, quality improvement and quality assurance activities. Click here to view a listing of the MST Network Partner organizations.
As of this writing, MST Services has assisted with the implementation of MST in communities in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Northern Ireland, England, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland as well as in over 30 states in the United States.