National Leading Research at Oxbow Academy

At Oxbow Academy, we are dedicated to providing the best quality of services to youths and their families. To do this, research is an integral part of the process. Research enables the continual growth and development of our program. Our research initiative can be broken into three categories. First is real-time data collection that helps us make data-informed decisions throughout your son's treatment. Second is outcome research that helps us understand how students grow and change through treatment and how long these impacts last. Third are quality assessments to determine what aspects of treatment are effective and to ensure the safety and health of students within treatment.

Data Collection

Our program makes data-driven decisions to track and evaluate the progress of each student. We take the safety and confidentiality of this data seriously, taking multiple measures to ensure that it is kept safe. Clinicians use this data to make decisions about student needs. We focus on building healthy and positive relationships with families, peers, staff, and clinicians. Our primary concern is with students leaving with positive experiences and keeping and developing the skills that they learn. In order to know if we are meeting our objectives, we use the following measures:

Youth Outcome Questionnaire (YOQ)

The Youth Outcome Questionnaire (YOQ) is a valid and reliable tool used across the industry to track emotional symptoms and behavioral challenges. Parents complete the YOQ about their child at intake and discharge. Therapist and students complete the YOQ throughout treatment on a monthly basis. Therapists use data from this assessment to determine symptoms that students have and the severity and level of clinical significance.

Residential Emotional, Social, and Behavioral Assessment (RESBA)

With Utah State University, the Ascent companies created the Residential Emotional, Social, and Behavioral Assessment (RESBA) tool. We created this tool to be both valid and reliable for residential populations. It is based entirely on observable information. Therapists, teachers, and residential staff complete RESBAs each time after meeting with students. The data from these RESBAs gives us real-time information regarding students struggles and/or progress across three domains: emotional experience, social behaviors and interactions, and overall behavior. It helps us determine if programs in any of these three domains are more prominent in an academic, therapeutic, or residential environment. This information helps our treatment team provide meaningful interventions for students in the areas and ways that they need.

Flag Board Data Tracking

Oxbow Academy's residential system supports and builds on our therapeutic interventions. We use input from a board certified behavior analyst consultation to make our residential flag system the best it can be. Using this system, we track positive and negative interactions students have with those around them, including family members, therapists, staff, peers, and himself. The goal of our flag system is to help students understand how their choices can build and damage relationships, along with helping them resolve their conflicts in a healthy and appropriate way. We track all of this information to understand what relationships students struggle with the most and in what ways. This data can then help inform clinical interventions designed to build positive relationships and influences in students’ lives.

Oxbow Academy Outcome Measure

The Oxbow Academy Outcome Measure is designed specifically for our program. It asks questions about student concerns along with broader questions about their overall quality of life. This measure helps us know how students are doing after treatment by asking questions about education, employment, relationships, etc. Parents and students complete the Oxbow Academy Outcome Measure at intake, discharge, and post-discharge. This tool provides us with overall outcome data to improve our program and to understand how students are able to move forward with healthy and productive lives.

Family Assessment Device

Because family relationships are at the center of what we do, we use the Family Assessment Device (FAD) to determine changes within family systems from intake to discharge.