Survey Results for Providers of Children and Youth Services

The results of the Summer 2010 Children and Youth Services Survey demonstrate that National Council members are incredibly devoted to serving children, youth, and families, and are providing valuable mental health and addictions treatment programs. Members also have identified innovative programs that they would like to implement and are searching for ways to grow and be more effective and efficient. Member organizations report that lack of funding for parental participation, as well as inadequate coordination with adult services systems and access to effective medication management are the top challenges in meeting their goals.

• Fact sheet from survey results
  
• Major child and adolescent mental health legislation in the 111th Congress.

Children's Mental Health: Key Facts and Figures

Almost one in five young people have one or more mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, and one in 10 youth has mental health problems that are severe enough to impair how they function at home, school, or in the community. Risk factors for these disorders are well established, preventive interventions are available, and the first symptoms typically precede a disorder by 2 to 4 years.
 

Age at Onset of First Symptom of Full Psychiatric Disorder, by Age 21

Source: Preventing Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People, 2009. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, of the National Academies

Learn more and get a PDF of the National Council's Children's Mental Health Fact Sheet.

Resources and Information on Transition Age Youth

National Council Transition Age Youth Project
Final selections are underway for the The National Council Transition Age Youth Project, a three year project to implement and evaluate a model of providing integrated clinical and person centered support services for youth. The initiative will support the selected organization and its local system of care partners in developing integrated mentoring/coaching staff roles and services to improve youth's access to supported employment, vocational training, tutoring services, and other educational support services as well as interpersonal relationship and social skills training and support.

By employing strategies that shift from the traditional system focus (i.e. transitioning youth from the children’s mental health system to the adult mental system), to a focus on transition to independence, the National Council Transition Age Youth Project is designed to improve functional and quality of life outcomes including: 

• Educational success
• Independent skilled work and financial independence
• Social skills, confidence, and peer relationships
• Illness and wellness self management skills
• Improved residential stability

"Toward a Brighter Future: Opportunities for Children Youth" the Fall 2008 issue of National Council Magazine includes the following articles on transition-age  youth 
 

• Navigating the Treacherous Pathways to Adulthood
  Hewitt “Rusty” Clark
  

• A Meaningful Future for Young People with Mental Illness
  Linda Rosenberg
• Adapting the Village Recovery Model to Transition Youth to Adults
  Wayne Munchel
• Reconnecting Youth With Family and Community
  Barbara Ryan, Kit Thompson
• Aging Out of the Child Welfare System
  Cindy Orlasky, Julie Sabo

“Transition to Independence Process Model” (TIP) developed by Dr. Rusty Clark and his colleagues at the National Center on Youth Transition for Behavioral Health at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute of the University of South Florida.

Evidence Based Practices for Children and Youth

AACAP Practice Parameters
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has published over 30 Practice Parameters designed to assist clinicians in providing high quality assessment and treatment for children and adolescents that is consistent with the best available scientific evidence and clinical consensus.

APA Report: Psychopharmacological, Psychosocial, and Combined Interventions for Childhood Disorders: Evidence Base, Contextual Factors, and Future Directions
A comprehensive report on the current state of knowledge concerning the
effective use, sequencing, and integration of psychotropic medications and psychosocial interventions for children and adolescents. This review
includes a comparative examination of the risk–benefit ratio of psychosocial and pharmacological treatments and the range of child and adolescent psychopharmacology.

Children's Budget Resources

From First Focus, the ChildrensBudget.org is a dynamic, interactive website with tools to explore how the federal government invests taxpayer resources in our children. The website allows you to search for individual programs, compare categories of children’s spending, and even create a custom category of the programs that matter to you. This data is also available as a pdf.

Resources for Families

NAMI Child & Adolescent Resource Guide
Recommended resources for children and adolescents living with mental
illnesses and their families.