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

Back to AICAFMHA Homepage / News in Brief Index / Issue 24

Welcome to rtcUpdates for September 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 at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu and click on the "Join our List!" link at the bottom left of the page.

CONTENTS OF THIS UPDATE:

** FOCAL POINT-New Issue on Cultural Competence
** RESEARCH NEWS FROM THE RTC
** RTC PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS-Recently produced
** BUILDING ON FAMILY STRENGTHS CONFERENCE-
More presentations available
** DATA TRENDS-Recent research summaries
** FROM THE WEB-Focus on Special Education:
online information and sites of interest

FOCAL POINT: New Issue on Cultural Competence

The Fall 2002 issue of FOCAL POINT focuses on "Cultural Competence and Children's Mental Health," and will be mailed in mid-November. Articles in the issue will address questions such as: how can we assess the level of cultural competence in our services, organizations, and systems of care for children with emotional and behavioral disorders? What do current assessments tell us about how we are doing? How can we gather information to help focus on priorities for improvement? What specific strategies appear to be successful in increasing the capacity for cultural competence at the system, service, or organization level?

If you are not a current FOCAL POINT subscriber, you can subscribe for free at our website. You can also use this link to update your information if your address has changed. Subscribe or update now to ensure that you will receive the Fall 2002 issue. http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgMailingListUpdates.shtml

RESEARCH NEWS FROM THE RTC

MODELS OF INCLUSION IN CHILD CARE
The Models of Inclusion in Child Care project is currently preparing a report on the inclusion philosophy, the role of quality in inclusion, and barriers to inclusion in the child care setting. Planning for phase two of the project to examine inclusion in child care at state level is underway. Researchers are presenting a workshop at 'Voices for Cultural Competency'--the 12th annual conference for Oregon Child Care Resource & Referral Network in November. http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgProjInclusion.php

FAMILY FRIENDLY EMPLOYERS
The researchers at the Common Ground? Families, Employers, and Education project want to express their sincere thanks to those of you who took the time to nominate your family friendly employers. http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgProjCommon.php

MORE NEWS
More news from RTC research projects is available at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgResearchNews.php

RTC PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS-Recently produced

Walker, J. (2002). Building on strengths in community settings. Focal Point 16(1), pp 3-4. http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFocalPoint.shtml (Spring 2002 issue)

Caplan, E. & Schutte, K. (2002). Community service: rationale, outcomes, and best practices. Focal Point 16(1), pp 19-20. http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFocalPoint.shtml (Spring 2002 issue)

BUILDING ON FAMILY STRENGTHS CONFERENCE

More presentations from our 9th annual conference are now available on our website at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgConference.shtml

SAVE THE DATE!

The 10th annual Building on Family Strengths Conference will be held June 26 to June 28, 2003 at the Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

Look for the call for presentations for the 2003 conference in October on our website at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/ and in future editions of rtcUpdates.

DATA TRENDS-new briefs include "Adherence to System of Care Philosophy: Federally Funded & Matched Comparison Sites," and "Using the Parents as Partners Principle with SED Children." http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgDataTrends.shtml
To subscribe to our DATA TRENDS email list and receive information about new DATA TRENDS immediately as they appear, send an email to datatrends@rri.pdx.edu

FROM THE WEB-
SPECIAL EDUCATION

** Guide to Special Education Advocacy for Caregivers
This guide, published by the National Center for Resource Family Support, shows foster parents and other resource families how to advocate for the educational services to which foster children with disabilities are entitled.
http://www.casey.org/cnc/support_retention/special_education_advocacy.htm

** Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education
This book from the National Academy Press explores factors contributing to the disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic minority students in special and gifted education programs and offers recommendations for change.
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074398/html/

** Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act: What It Means for IDEA
Developed by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), this document identifies those areas in the Act that have clear implications for implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
http://www.nasdse.org/downloadnclb.htm

** Great IDEAs About Special Education Reform
This website was created by a Committee of the US House of Representatives to gather comments from teachers, parents, and others for the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Included is a form to use to submit comments, meant to provide a medium in which all who have an interest in special education can give opinions on what reforms are needed to improve IDEA.
http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/107th/education/idea/ideacomments/

** IDEA 1997 Transition Issues: The IEP for Transition-Aged Students
This Parent Brief, produced by the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) and the PACER Center, explains the requirements for transition under IDEA, the composition and functioning of the Individual Education Program (IEP) transition team, and special factors for the IEP team to consider. It also outlines the roles of students, parents, educators, school staff, and agency staff on the IEP transition team.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=423

** New topics from the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
Written information and compilations of resources on two new topics have recently been added to the NCSET website:

-- "Self-determination for Postsecondary Students" explores how self-determination can contribute to an individual's ability to establish and achieve her or his own goals during and after college.
http://www.ncset.org/topics/sdpse/?topic=7

-- "Accommodations" describes changes made to classroom and testing materials and procedures to help students with disabilities learn and participate in tests on a level playing field with students without disabilities.
http://www.ncset.org/topics/accommodations/?topic=9

OTHER RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

** Report on Children's Mental Health Usage
This brief, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, reports on results from a recent large scale survey. The new research examines access to services as well as quality and outcomes for youth and focuses on service inequities among children of different races, ages, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, and diagnoses.
http://www.ihhcpar.rutgers.edu/downloads/issuebrief.pdf

** Caring for Children with Emotional Disorders
Caring for a child with an emotional disability, ranging from extreme shyness to violent behavior, takes a toll on parents and caregivers that apparently does not ease with time. Researchers at Ohio State University conclude that it's not just the children with problems who need care-the people caring for them also need help.
http://www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/children.htm

** Family Strengths: Often Overlooked, But Real
Contrary to many popular portrayals, the majority of American parents and children report strong family ties and daily routines that encourage close parent-child relationships, according to this Child Trends Research Brief.
http://www.childtrends.org/PDF/FamilyStrengths.pdf

** Healthy Adolescent Development: Social Skills and Relationships
This Child Trends research brief provides a review of 360 research studies related to the social competence of teenagers and the intervention strategies found to be effective in helping teens initiate and maintain positive social relationships.
http://www.childtrends.org/PDF/K3Brief.pdf

** Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs
This study by the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington examines existing evaluations of positive youth development programs and summarizes the state of the field.
http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume5/pre0050015a.html

** Helping Abused Kids in Care Heal
When children are removed from their homes because of sexual abuse, they face special challenges when it comes to building trusting relationships. This article, from Connect for Kids, reports on what can be done to help these children and better prepare foster parents.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=117059

** For Latino Youth, "La Justicia" is Hard to Find
Latino youth are more likely to be incarcerated, receive longer sentences for similar offenses, and be transferred to the adult criminal justice system than white youth, according to a report released last week by Building Blocks for Youth and reviewed on the Connect for Kids website.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=117069

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 24

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