Examination of 31 therapeutic wilderness programs specializing in mental health treatment revealed that most programs served high-risk youth using a variety of outdoor modalities; that there was not a consensus on the definition of therapeutic; and that, in most cases, nonprofessional staff were responsible for therapeutic interventions. (LP)

A literature review describes evaluation activities in mental health services in financial, programmatic/clinical, and new constituency areas. Expanding reimbursement for alternative mental health services is offered as a way of developing a formal structure to ensure better utilization of evaluation results. (SLD)

A new measure of health status, the Health Status Scale, is presented. This five-indicator scale is used as the dependent variable in a regression equation using six common predictors of health status. Results indicate that health facilities are the most significant predictors of health status. (SLD)

A survey of 28 Rhode Island mental health agencies examined the number of clients with deafness served and the accessibility of services. Over 70% of respondents had served deaf people during the past year, 25% provided certified interpreters, and 39% were accessible via telecommunication devices for the deaf. (Author/JDD)

A study involving 254 children (ages 3 to 17) investigated how children referred to the East Baltimore Mental Health Partnership (EBMHP) from a traditional mental health center differed from children referred by non-mental health agencies. Children differed in terms of their sociodemographic characteristics and psychosocial adjustment depending on…

Presents a brief overview of the circumstances and outcomes of the war in Bosnia, discusses some of the clinical issues being faced by Bosnian children, such as post traumatic stress disorders, and describes volunteer training efforts designed to train teachers as lay therapists. (CR)

This study compared the effectiveness of both individual/dyadic/family therapy (IDF) and group therapy with 41 children (aged 6-17 years) who had been abused sexually. Globally, children in the IDF group showed improvement in their psychological state. Children in group therapy demonstrated deterioration in some aspects of their mental health, but…

Using data from three sites, a study examined service use and expenditures under systems-of-care. The sites provided children with a full range of mental health services. Per-child expenditures were high, but for two sites, those expenditures were within the range of expenditures in other innovative attempts at service delivery. (Contains…

This article describes a family-centered wraparound project developed to meet the needs of elementary children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. It discusses the role of the behavioral support team and the key roles of the principal and the teacher as the creators of cultural competence. Tips for teachers are provided. (Contains…

Article offers an example of how mental health services, like the Children First program, collaborate with other services in elementary schools. The goal of the Children First program is to offer counseling that provides in-depth, process-oriented therapy within the grade school setting. (Author)

Students (N=182) and teachers (N=33) in six Kosovar schools were surveyed to assess conditions, evaluate local resources, and determine suitability of implementing a mental health program following the trauma of war. Children (ages 10-12) showed strong coping skills and resiliency despite adversity. Teachers reported significant data about student…

Evaluation of the Early Screening Project in a Head Start classroom-wide mental health identification and intervention over a 12- week period found that eight children identified as being at high risk for emotional/behavioral disorders prior to intervention either significantly improved or maintained their pre-intervention functioning. No…

Examines forces motivating reform in mental health services, suggesting that mental health practitioners and researchers have relied on traditional and apparently unsuccessful methods (with little or no scientific support) to ensure service quality and effectiveness; debunking six myths about mental health services; and suggesting that…

A study examined juvenile cases processed in an East Coast state between 1992 and 1994 (n=33,423). Findings indicate mental health placements are used rarely relative to other court outcomes (i.e., dismissal, probation, other types of placements), and gender and race significantly influence whether an offender receives this type of treatment.…

We investigated associations between both youth-therapist and parent-therapist alliances and retention, satisfaction, and symptom improvement among 65 youth and their parents receiving usual community-based outpatient mental health services. Parent (but not youth) alliance was significantly related to more frequent family participation, less…