Thank you,

Janet
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Dear Janet

Can I suggest you have a look at the AWCH (Association for the Welfare of Child Health) Library. Their list of titles is accessed through the AWCH

Anyone looking at patterns of problem behavior in kids, even as young as 3 or 4, should be aware that the incidence of childhood bipolar is increasing but is underdiagnosed. Dr. Demetri Papolos's The Bipolar Child is an excellent guide to the whole picture.

Dear Janet,

I am sorry I can't help you with your request, however, I would greatly appreciate any references you receive regarding Aboriginal children.

For those that cannot get the " The Bipolar Child" there is a recent article in the Journal of Psychosocial Nursing that includes a table from the book with 'A proposed Definition of Juvenile Onset Bipolar Disorder'.

The full reference:
MOHR,W.W.K (2001). Bipolar Disorder in Children. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, March, Vol39, No.3.

I am a Community Visitor in Sydney. The Community Services Commission has just released a report on the use of restraint in residential facilities (obviously, affecting young people in care). Some of the evidence tendered suggests that recent legislative reform in New South Wales might dilute workers' common law duty of care to residents. This would arguably allow workers greater scope to respond (vis armis, if necessary), to so-called problematic behaviour.

Kia Ora / Greetings

I work for the statutory child protection service in New Zealand ( Department of Child,Youth and Family) and I am enrolled in a doctorate researching outcomes for children and young people with mental health disorders who are involved in the statutory child welfare service. I would be interested in making contact with others who are working with this client group , in particular I am interetsed in family support work with families of origin and foster parents. I have been very interested in the discussion and description of those programmes supporting families where there are caregivers who have mental health issues. Thank you for your time.

Hello Phillipa:

I am currently working in a residential treatment home with adolesence males between the ages of 13 and 18 who are diagnosed with a variety of mental health issues. All of our youth work directly with a psychiatrist, a counsellor, the treatment team, and other proffessionals. I am part of the treatment team and I also provide in home family support to their families. Their families may consist of foster parents, biological parents, grandparents, siblings, step-parents, and/or combinations of the above.

Many of these children are wards of the Government. Being a ward means that these children will be under the care of Child Welfare until they are 18 years of age. Many will remain in care though Adult Services. Some of them are placed in care through a care agreement with their legal gaurdian. These children may be returned home, continue in care, or become a permanent ward.

We work with these youth from a holistic perspective. We have a great deal of community support including our neighbours, schools, agency, social workers, etc. Although most of our youth are on medication, we work towards finding the drug that is the most effective and the lowest possible dose. This can be a challenge as the drugs will mask the behaviors and each time a youth participates in the community in a new setting the team faces the challenge of advocating for our program and methods without increasing the medication. At times it appears that some of the people who have contact with these youth would rather deal with a youth who is heavily medicated in order to avoid working through the presenting behaviors.