School mental health programs are increasingly prominent in the United States and in other countries, but funding remains tentative. This article describes a partnership between a school mental health program and an outpatient mental health center, and considers the larger goal of promoting sustainability and increasing revenue. Issues related to…

It is the era of evidence-based practices. Now more than ever, social programs are challenged to clearly describe their ideal frameworks and empirically demonstrate fidelity to their standards. In this study, the authors implemented a narrative approach to developing standards in a peer support program for people accessing mental health services.…

There are many challenges to transporting evidence-based treatments from laboratories into real-world settings. However, if we hope to make our evidence-based treatments accessible and available to children and usable by community professionals, effectiveness research is imperative. We argue that schools represent an ideal real world setting in…

This fact sheet summarizes a study that examined how schools in the U.S. Gulf Coast region perceived the mental health needs of students after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and how schools responded. According to the report, despite strong initial efforts to support the mental health needs of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many…

The primary purpose of this research is to illuminate three critical components related to the success of jail diversion programs. First, prior to diversion there is the need to identify those offenders most open to therapeutic services. Second, for those offenders diverted, there must be a proper match between the offender and the mental health…

An individual tells his story of how mental health problems got him to prison and how prison mental health services were difficult to obtain and inappropriate at times. He had to demand that he receive adequate treatment. Mike Weaver currently advocates for mental health services and treating people rather than extending their prison sentences.

The Connecticut Department of Children and Families Title IV-E waiver demonstration evaluated whether the well-being of children approved for residential mental health services could be improved, and lengths of stay in restrictive placements reduced, by providing case rate payments to community agencies to provide continuum of care services.…

Professional psychology's ability to meet older Americans' psychological needs and to simultaneously thrive as a profession will be closely tied to the federal Medicare program over the coming decades. Despite legislative changes in the 1980s providing professional autonomy to psychologists and expanding coverage for mental health services,…

There are many factors that impact on mental health and the utilization of these services in the bush. The results from a three year ethnographic study in a bush community indicate that attitudes to mental health in this area of Queensland are influenced by bush identity, defined by reference to historical and current characteristics which include…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are known to have a high prevalence of mental health problems but few studies have considered how such mental health problems are addressed in Canada. The purpose of the present study was to document both the range of mental health services available to individuals with intellectual disabilities…

In this article, the author conducts a preliminary review of the tragedy at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. He explains how and why such terrible events occur and provides some insights, principles, and strategies that may assist colleges in their quest to provide an optimally safe environment for their students and staff.

Unmet mental health need is a significant problem for adolescents. Although stigma is identified as a major barrier to the use of mental health services among youth, there is limited research on this topic. In-depth interviews (n = 57) among a sample of 8th grade students in a suburban, mid-Atlantic community portray adolescent mental health…

The need for cultural competence and the need for evidence-based practice in mental health services are major issues in contemporary discourse, especially in the psychological treatment of people of color. Although these 2 paradigms are complementary in nature, there is little cross-fertilization in the psychological literature. The present…

Women disadvantaged by poverty, as well as racial or ethnic minority status, are more likely to experience depression than the rest of the U.S. population. At the same time, they are less likely to seek or remain in treatment for depression in traditional mental health settings. This article explores a therapeutic, psychosocial engagement strategy…

The greater New Orleans area has yet to fully recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, 2005. One issue of concern in the recovery is the availability of mental health services for children. It is estimated that in 2008 about 187,000 children were living in the greater New Orleans area. Many children in the…