AICAFMHA:
promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
ABN 87 093 479 022

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Welcome to rtcUpdates for July 2002. rtcUpdates are brought to you by the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health. Subscribers to rtcUpdates receive occasional email messages from the RTC containing information about the RTC's recent research, publications and other activities, as well as information about developments in the field of children's mental health.

Feel free to forward this message to friends and colleagues. If this email was forwarded to you, you will need to subscribe to rtcUpdates in order to receive future emails. To subscribe to rtcUpdates, go to the RTC home page, www.rtc.pdx.edu and click on the "Join our List!" link. Information on how to unsubscribe is at the end of this message.

CONTENTS OF THIS UPDATE:
**NOMINATE YOUR FAMILY-FRIENDLY EMPLOYER
**NEW RTC PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
**BUILDING ON FAMILY STRENGTHS CONFERENCE--Presentations online
**DATA TRENDS--Recent research summaries
**FROM THE WEB--Online information and sites of interest

NOMINATE YOUR FAMILY-FRIENDLY EMPLOYER

The RTC research project 'Common Ground? Families, Employers, and Education' is looking for employers who understand what it takes. Do you have an employer or supervisor who really understands what it takes to be a satisfied employee AND parent? Help us recognize your employer or supervisor and learn more about successful work-family fit. Tell us about your employer in one of two ways:
EMAIL: Send nominations to huffstut@pdx.edu with your employer's name, address, phone number, and contact person, and tell us what your employer does that helps you meet both work and family needs (for example, flexible work hours, time off for emergency calls from school, etc.). If you don't mind us contacting you for more information, also give us your name and phone number.
MAIL: Write down the information listed above or download our nomination form at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/NominateEmployer.pdf and mail it to Common Ground?, RTC/PSU, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207.

NEW RTC PRESENTATIONS

Brennan, E., Tvedt, K., & Ranson, L. (2002) "Promoting Children's Mental Health in a Child Care Context." Presented at the Georgetown Training Institutes: Developing Local Systems of Care for Children and Adolescents with Emotional Disturbances and their Families, Washington D.C. Click on "latest updates". http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgProjInclusion.php

Friesen, B.J. (2002) "Family Perceptions of Educational Planning for Children Receiving Mental Health Services." Presented at Research Directors' Meeting, Office of Special Education Programs, Washington, D.C. Click on "preliminary findings". http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgProjParticipation.php

RTC PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS--Recently produced:

Simpson, J.S., Jivanjee, P., Koroloff, N., Doerfler, A., & Garcia M. (2001). Promising Practices in Early Childhood Mental Health. Systems of Care: Promising Practices in Children's Mental Health, 2001 Series, Vol. III. Washington, D.C.: Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice, American Institutes for Research.
Supplies are limited, order your **FREE** COPY NOW!
Order Online: http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.shtml
Or by Email: rtcpubs@pdx.edu
Or call: 503-725-4175

The 9th annual BUILDING ON FAMILY STRENGTHS CONFERENCE was a big success. This year, we have several of the conference presentations available on our website: http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgConference.shtml

Pre-Conference Workshop:
Getting What You Need from a Research Report: A Workshop for Families Who Want to Get In, Get What They Need, and Get Out Alive
Presented by: Elaine Slaton, Shannon CrossBear, and Nancy Koroloff

Research Plenary:
Research and Advocacy: Partners for Systems Change "Parent-Child Contact During Residential Treatment: Findings from the Family Participation Survey"
Presented by: Barbara J. Friesen, Ph. D., Adjoa Robinson, M.S.W., Pauline Jivanjee, Ph.D., Michael Pullmann, M.S., and Jean M. Kruzich, Ph.D.

Solving "The Custody Problem"
Presented by: Linda Reilly and Michael Pullmann

Conference Workshops:
Multiple Placements: Implications on the Attachment and Mental Health Needs of Foster Children
Presented by: Laura Marwick Ackerman, M.S, M.S.W.

Child Care That Works for Children with Emotional and/or Behavioral Challenges: Parents' Perceptions
Presented by: Shane Ama, Sara Berman, Eileen Brennan, and Jennifer Bradley

Building Family-Centered Culturally Competent Service Systems
Presented by: Margaret Arbuckle, Dianne Walker, Jacalyn Claes

Pushing the Boundaries: Ethics and Professional Development in Community Based Practice
Presented by: Julie Berry and Brent Matthews

Implementation of Family Support Services
Presented by: Anne Cooper, Program Manager and Beulah Bolden, Therapist

Influencing Children's Mental Health Outcomes: Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Design
Presented by: Beth L. Green, Paula Zaninovich, and Jennifer S. Simpson, Maria Everhart, Elizabeth Vale, and Marķa L.G. Gettman

Family Influences on Service Use Among Youth with Co- occurring Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders
Presented by: Craig Anne Heflinger, Ph.D., Ana Maria Brannan, Ph.D., and Mamie and Jack McKenzie

Developing, Implementing, Evaluating, and Replicating a Successful Family- to- Family Support and Education Program
Presented by: Henry Ireys and Robert Blue

Respite Care for Children with Mental Health Challenges and Their Families: Promising Practices in Systems of Care
Presented by: Pauline Jivanjee, Jennifer Simpson, and Marķa L.G. Gettman

Connections: A Family Focused, Strength-Based Partnership Between Juvenile Justice and Mental Health
Presented by: Jonathan Cook

Creating a Curriculum for Caring: Involving Students with Behavior Problems in Service-Learning Programs
Presented by: Howard S. Muscott, Ed.D.

Caregiver Participation in Service Planning in a System of Care
Presented by: Michael Pullmann, Nancy Koroloff, Paula Savage

More than Money: Do Family Resources Predict Caregiver Strain?
Presented by: Michael Pullmann, Paula Savage, and Nancy Koroloff

Employer AND Parent: Calling All Family Friendly Employers
Presented by: Julie M. Rosenzweig and Kitty Huffstutter

Family & Community Based Residential Treatment in a System of Care
Presented by: Rhonda & Steven Russell and Brent Matthews

Family Members as Evaluators: Preliminary Results of a Training Curriculum
Presented by: Elaine Slaton, Nancy Koroloff, Kathryn Schutte, Adjoa Robinson, and Pauline Jivanjee

Strategies for Increasing the Effectiveness of Individualized Service Planning (Wraparound) Teams
Presented by: Janet S. Walker, Kathryn Schutte, Dawn Grosz

DATA TRENDS--new briefs include research on mental health screening instruments in juvenile justice, mental health referrals in juvenile justice, clinical profiles of youth in a system of care, and characteristics and needs of families in an urban mental health service system. See http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgDataTrends.shtml

To subscribe to our DATA TRENDS listserv and receive information about new DATA TRENDS immediately as they appear, send an email to datatrends@rri.pdx.edu

FROM THE WEB--
SPECIAL EDUCATION

** Governors adopt new special education policy
The nation's governors voted to adopt a policy in support of quality education for all students, including students with disabilities. The policy, developed jointly with the Council of Chief State School Officers, calls for the federal government to meet its full mandatory funding commitment of 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure. (Currently the federal government provides less than 17 percent.) http://www.nga.org/nga/newsRoom/1,1169,C_PRESS_RELEASE^D_4102,00.html

** Report on families' experiences with special education Public Agenda Online recently published "When It's Your Own Child: A Report on Special Education from the Families Who Use It," a report on a national survey of over 500 families with children receiving special education. http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/specialed/specialed.htm

** Over-representation in special education "Addressing Over-Representation of African American Students in Special Education: The Prereferral Intervention Process, An Administrator's Guide," provides administrators with a general understanding of the overrepresentation in and inappropriate referral of African American students to special education. This guide describes promising approaches, gives suggestions for involving families, and includes easy to use checklists containing recommendations, and resources and references for further study. http://www.ideapractices.org/resources/files/AddressingOverRep.pdf

** Enhancing mental health in schools
A report by Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor, "Impediments to Enhancing Availability of Mental Health in Schools: Fragmentation, Overspecialization, Counterproductive Competition, and Marginalization," discusses ways that schools can change their policies and practices to support student mental health services. http://ericcass.uncg.edu/naspERIC.pdf

** Supporting Individuals with disabilities across secondary school, postsecondary school, and employment
The proceedings from the spring 2002 National Capacity Building Institute includes annotated presenter papers on topics ranging from supporting individuals with severe disabilities in fully-included settings to supporting youth with disabilities in postsecondary education and employment, the results of online and group discussion around these topics, and recommendations for policy, practice, and research. http://www.ncset.hawaii.edu/Institutes/CBIProceedings.pdf

FOSTER CARE

**Kids in foster care face extra barriers to special education Without a parent who can legally advocate for special education services, foster children with disabilities are often cut off from the services to which they are entitled. In Maine and Massachusetts, every child with special needs who is placed in foster care by court order is entitled to representation by a qualified foster parent or surrogate parent. New Jersey advocates argue that serious consideration should be given to development of an expanded surrogate parent program to meet this need. http://www.kidlaw.org/main.asp?uri=1003&di=136.htm&dt=0&sti=2

** Meeting the health care needs of children in foster care The Georgetown University Child Development Center reports on a three-year study to identify and describe promising approaches for meeting the health care needs (physical, mental, emotional, developmental, and dental) of children in the foster care system. http://www.georgetown.edu/research/gucdc/foster.html

JUVENILE JUSTICE

** National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice (NCMHJJ) NCMHJJ promotes awareness of the mental health needs of youth in the juvenile justice system and assists the field in developing improved policies and programs based on the best available research and practice. The Center hosts a variety of interrelated projects that are supported by public and private organizations. http://www.ncmhjj.com/

** Center for the Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice (CPMHJJ) CPMHJJ, located at Columbia University, strives to provide expert guidance regarding best practices for psychiatric assessment and referral for youth in juvenile justice settings. They aid juvenile justice settings in determining how to incorporate scientifically sound mental health assessments into practice and how to map mental health services on to those assessments. http://www.promotementalhealth.org/

OTHER RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

** Preventing custody relinquishment
This update from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill reports on the legislative progress of the Family Opportunity Act. According to NAMI, "FOA is intended to end the financial devastation that families too often encounter in attempting to access quality treatment for their children with mental illness.... Families are often tragically forced to give up custody of their children to obtain the most appropriate treatment and services for them. This legislation...is a measure that will help put an end to this horrible choice that loving and caring families must make in cases where there has been no abuse or neglect." http://www.nami.org/update/20020712.html

** National review of evaluation programs
"The National Scan 2002: State of the States in Children's Services Evaluation," systematically examines each state/territory's evaluation program for children's mental health services, including design, process, instruments, MIS, and lessons learned. http://gucdc.georgetown.edu/nationscan/nationalscan.html

** TAP monthly newsletter
The Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health publishes a monthly web newsletter full of information about children's mental health and systems of care. http://www.air.org/tapartnership/news.htm

** Family as Faculty update
Family as Faculty is a program at the University of South Florida, Tampa that recruits family members as guest lecturers to provide students in the College of Education opportunities to learn about the barriers and keys to effective involvement of families in their children's learning. This update describes how the program continues to thrive two years after implementation. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine/fineforum/forum1/spotlight.html#update

Funds to support this activity come from the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch, Federal Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education.

Back to AICAFMHA Homepage / News in Brief Index / Issue 20

Last Modified: 04-02-2003 19:49:41