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Mapping Paths Toward Health A group of 20 teens from Harlem and 20 from Pinellas County, Florida spent last summer garnering preliminary information from health clinics, hospitals and pharmacies on their respective communities’ health needs and awareness. Prior to the start of the project youth were trained in interviewing techniques and survey development. Most of the students didn’t know what health literacy was. Resources on Mental Health Needs and Juvenile Justice Youth Almost four pages of links and organizations with information and resources on mental health and juvenile justice issues. ++++++++++ Screening and Assessment Tools
In fulfilling a request for technical assistance this week I turned up these sites with information about screening and assessment . There were many more, but I thought these three were particularly helpful: Risk and Assessment Instruments – From the NHTSA Implementation Guide for Juvenile Holdover Programs, an appendix that provides links to specific instruments and/or protocols and a list of additional instruments.
++++++++++ Improving Services for Youth with Mental Health and Co-occurring Substance Use Disorders Involved with the Juvenile Justice System Resource Kit
The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice has a resource kit of readings, resources, and references available online. It took a little while, but I found the links to the kit under the heading “This Resource Kit contains information under the following headings:”. Click on the headings (“General,” “Screening and Assessment,” etc.) and each will take you to a number of resources.
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Mental Illness Begins in Adolescence and Often Goes Untreated, Unrecognized
One-half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14 often followed by long delays between the onset of symptoms and seeking treatment. Delays, which can span decades, lead to more severe and difficult-to-treat illnesses and co-occurring disorders. Disorders that emerge in childhood are associated with the longest delays in treatment , even though childhood disorders are often more serious than those that strike later in life. Read this NMHA report on the results of a new Mental Health study led by Harvard University.
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Clinical Evaluations for Juveniles’ Competence to Stand Trial: A Guide for Legal Professionals
This publication is the end result of the MacArthur Foundation Juvenile Competence to Stand Trial study. It was written by Thomas Grisso, PhD, and developed with the assistance of judges and attorneys throughout the country. This little book (56 pages) offers the best advice on this topic currently available. It is the first guide to assist legal professionals on how evaluations can be performed by forensic mental health professionals so that they can provide relevant information for judicial decisions.
Available from the Professional Resource Press at $18.95 per copy. Click on the link above to learn more. ++++++++++
Children Who Self-Injure Themselves Are Growing Younger
Professionals agree that younger and younger people are cutting their skin, burning themselves, bloodletting and in extreme cases, cutting of portions and fingers and ears. Nearly all children who cut themselves have a trait in common – they are clinically depressed. Experts say depression is at the core of the behavior, but that a combination of modern societal realities contributes to that behavior – parents who take a smaller role in raising their children, a culture where beauty, sex, and perfection are exalted, and new technologies that allow cutters to talk to each other. Internet chat rooms allow cutters to share what used to be an isolated practice and group cutting has become more common. +++++++++ Navigating the Mental Health Maze: A Guide for Court Practitioners I missed this publication last week when I wrote about the resources available at the BJA Mental Health Courts web site. This guide provides non-mental health professionals with a basic overview of mental illnesses, their diagnosis, and their treatment. It is divided into two parts: Part I discusses the mental health system and the shift from large institutions to a community-based system of care. Explains the relationship between the decrease in state hospital populations and the corresponding increase in people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. Part II explains the current understanding of mental illnesses as genuine neurobiological diseases of the brain that can be managed effectively. Provides information on mental illnesses and their symptoms.
++++++++++ Overview of the Mental Health Service System for Criminal Justice Professionals Author Jackie Massaro in this publication provides criminal justice professionals with basic information about the adult mental health service system and it highlights some of the common challenges for the mental health and criminal justice systems in meeting the needs of adults with mental illness. Has relevance to the juvenile system too. 40 pages. Downloadable. ++++++++++ Mental Health Courts Program The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Mental Health Courts Program funds projects that seek to implement collaborative efforts involving courts to improve the response to offenders with mental illnesses. The link above will take you to the site of the program. There you will find links to these wo downloadable publications: +++++++++ Mentally Ill Kids Will Be Behind Bars for Three More Months The State of New Jersey needs another three months to find enough treatment beds to accommodate about 50 mentally ill children on any given day who remain in county-run detention centers despite judges’ orders that they be moved to treatment facilities. ++++++++++For Parents: Legal Issues of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
The Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation provides detailed information for parents whose child’s impulsive or aggressive acts can bring them into contact with the juvenile justice system. Includes a link to a page of Suggestions for Workers in the Juvenile Justice System at the end. ++++++++++Treating Women with Co-Occurring Disorders Involved in the Justice System and Their Children
The National GAINS Center reports on women’s issues, needs, and the needs of their children and provides examples of operating programs from around the country. ++++++++++Tennessee’s Youth in Juvenile Justice Facilities: Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Disability Issues
This is the report of a State of Tennessee survey of 40 juvenile justice facilities across the state to assess the prevalence of mental health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities among youth in juvenile justice facilities. Results of that survey include this information: Half (53% of the youth in juvenile justice facilities were experiencing mental health problems. One of every seven youth (15%) was on some type of psychiatric medicine while in the juvenile justice facility. Two of every five youth (42%) were known to have substance abuse problems. Over one quarter (30%) of all youth in juvenile facilities had co-occurring mental health and substance use problems. The most frequent psychiatric diagnoses reported for youth in juvenile justice facilities were conduct disorder and depression.
The report is about 25 pages long. The appendices are about the same length. Complete report is a 57 page pdf file. ++++++++++Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Can you Catch Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? – The New York Times Sunday Magazine examines OCD in depth in this 9 page article. Part of the torture of OCD is, as patients describe it, watching as if from the outside as they act out their obsessions – knowing that they are being irrational, but not being able to stop. Beating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – NPR interviews 13-year-old Daniel who describes his experiences with OCD and how he overcame the affliction. ++++++++++ Mental Health and Juvenile Justice – Promising Practices in Texas
Connect for Kids reports on Texas programs that the National Mental Health Association has recognized to “incorporate promising practices to address the mental health, substance abuse and co-occurring needs of youth involved in the juvenile justice system." The programs address the needs of the family, not just those of the youth. The Texas First Time Offender program, available in 43 of the 254 counties of the state, provides services that range from screening and assessment, substance abuse counseling, case management and connecting the family to community support systems. The Tarrant County Family Matters program works with youth deemed at risk for delinquency by the county’s juvenile probation department. This program arranges and coordinates such treatment services as individual and family counseling and family stabilization. The Special Needs Diversionary Program (SNDP) is an alternative to incarceration for juveniles with mental health needs, seeking to prevent their removal from their homes and to keep them from further involvement with the juvenile justice system. SNDP is a team approach in which juvenile probation officers are paired with a licensed mental health practitioner. . At the same time it funded SNDP, the Texas state legislature enacted legislation that requires that every juvenile formally referred to juvenile probation departments be given a standard mental health screening. ++++++++++ Antidepressant Medication and Children: Tips for Parents This National Mental Health Association Children's Fact Sheet is intended to help parents better understands and make decisions about the use of SSRI antidepressant medications for their children. ++++++++++ People-First Language The language we use can have far-reaching and unintended effects, stigmatizing and dehumanizing people of different genders, races, religions and nationalities. Persons diagnosed with mental illness and those in the criminal justice system may experience the same stigmatization. This one-page article from the GAINS Center web site explains people-first language as it applies to people in the mental health and criminal justice systems. ++++++++++ Resources on Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Justice Youth The Connect for Kids web site pulls together a resource section for young people in the juvenile justice system with serious mental health problems. ++++++++++ An Online Tutorial for Juvenile Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals Working Together for Change: Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System is available online from the National GAINS Center for Co-Occurring Disorders in the Justice System. There is no charge for the tutorial, as near as I can tell. +++++++++++ One in Four Foster Children Suffer From Post-traumatic Stress A study of 659 Washington and Oregon foster care alumni shows that former foster children are twice as likely to suffer from PTSD as Iraq war veterans and adults who were in foster care struggle with mental health problems much more often than the general population. The study, released today (April 4, 2005), says that 25% of the study respondents have PTSD. National studies show that 12-13% of Iraq war veterans and 15% of Vietnam War veterans suffer from PTSD. Former foster children were twice as likely to be depressed (20%) as the general population (10%). They struggle with education, employment and money once they leave the system at age 18. A third of former foster children are at or below the poverty line, three times the national poverty rate. More than one in five foster care alumni were homeless sometime during the year after they left foster care.
++++++++++ Health/Mental Health-Related Information The Psychology of Steroids – Connect for Kids examines teen-age steroid use/abuse and why kids use steroids – and that includes girls, too. Depression – The American School Board Journal addresses childhood depression and the responsibility of schools to step in. Approaches include screening and prevention programs in schools. Bipolar Disorder – A National Mental Health Association biography of an actor who has bipolar disorder, a chronic illness characterized by mood swings ranging from elation to despair. It typically develops in adolescence or early adulthood. ++++++++++ Adolescent Portable Therapy: A Practical Guide for Service Providers The Vera Institute’s APT program combines family therapy and individual treatment to reduce adolescent drug use and address mental health problems and behavioral issues. APT’s treatment manual gives service providers and program planners a theoretical framework and procedures, techniques and case examples that will enable them to implement the APT model easily and effectively. Downloadable from the Vera Institute of Justice as a pdf file – 99 pages long. |
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