Nationally, school-based mental health (SBMH) is seen as an avenue to increase access to children's mental health services and promote mental health awareness. The current article describes the implementation of a statewide SBMH program focusing on partnerships between community-based providers and local school systems, with providers embedded…

The latest initiative to address mental health needs of the nation, including those of children and youth, is the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC). The NFC formulated a benchmark of six goals and related recommendations toward which the U.S. should strive, including the recommendation that each state develop a…

Fischer presented a methodological framework which combined empirical methods of data collection with interpretive and philosophical approaches to provide a useful model for studying mental health policy for children and adolescents. The levels of the method include: (1) study of cause-effect relationships; (2) phenomenological analysis to…

This study uses a historical perspective to examine the interface of the Maryland Juvenile Justice Department and the Mental Hygiene Administration in their efforts to provide services to youth involved with the juvenile justice system who were found to have mental disorders. A time line was constructed documenting developments from the 16th…

This resource packet provides an overview of the wide variety of approaches used by educators, government officials, minority organizations, and foundations to reduce teenage pregnancy or to help teenagers who are pregnant or are parents stay in school. The first section lists, describes and gives the addresses and possible contact person of…

The evaluation plan for New York State's Children and Youth Intensive Case Management (CYICM) Program is described, which was introduced in July 1988. The CYICM Program is a statewide intervention focusing on keeping children with serious emotional disturbances in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs. It is a…

Childhood and adolescent obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions in the United States and are growing. The sedentary routines found in schools and in the home as well as the overexposure to unhealthy snacks and nonnutritional foods contribute to the pervasiveness of this disease that afflicts America's children. Obese children face…

Describes a state of Oregon experimental program demonstrating a multidisciplinary team approach to dealing with severely emotionally disturbed youth (aged 6-17) in a residential care setting. Those treated were physically dangerous. Varied therapies were used, with frequency of review emphasized. Coordination of public and private resources and…

The articles in this journal issue provide an overview of ways in which health services are presently delivered to children, youth, and pregnant women; the means by which these services are financed; and some of the major deficiencies in meeting the health needs of these groups. In the first article, the Center for the Future of Children presents…

Discusses the development and preliminary evaluation of an experimental statewide system of services in North Carolina for seriously behaviorally/emotionally disturbed adolescents. The program successfully provides these youngsters with appropriate treatment, education, training, and care suited to their individual needs, including community-based…

This article describes the history of New York's efforts to create partnerships with families with children with emotional disturbances, articulates the stages of parent involvement in policymaking, and summarizes lessons learned and recommendations for effective and enduring families as policy allies. A case study is presented. (Contains…

A study examined the long-term (3 year) treatment outcomes of all adolescents (n=2,481) who received services in Vermont's statewide systems of care. Recipients of services had substantially elevated rates of incarceration and hospitalization but maternity rates in the treatment groups were not different from other young women. (Contains…

The youth development approach has gained traction over the past twenty-plus years, across a range of youth-serving fields, including public health. While it is important for Adolescent Health Coordinators, other practitioners and policy makers focused on youth to be familiar with youth development concepts, it is critically important that they…

Louisiana's School-Based Health Center (SBHC) Program, the Adolescent School Health Initiative, has reached its fifth year of full program implementation. This report aims to educate community leaders, service providers, and the general public on the variety of roles SBHCs perform and the contribution they make to the health and well-being of the…

Louisiana's initiative to assist local communities to develop and operate school-based health centers (SBHCs)is a nationally recognized model. This report details a year of significant service expansion to Louisiana's school children and a renewed commitment to meeting the health care needs of more students in years to come. Section 1 of the…