TA Partnership Newsletter — June/July 2010
Highlights from the Field
The Highlights from the Field articles provide information about innovative and promising activities from the system of care communities supported by the TA Partnership in the hopes that communities can learn from their peers around the country.
Feature Articles:
- Onondaga County Models System of Care Principles Through Governance Planning
- Building Blocks Attests to Children's Mental Health Initiative Benefits for Young Children and Their Families
- Project FatherhoodSM: Helping Disadvantaged Fathers to Be Better Parents
- LA-Y.E.S. Consortium
- Day-long "Children's Mental Health Matters" Campaign Reaches Hundreds of Families in Delaware
Building Blocks Attests to Children's Mental Health Initiative Benefits for Young Children and Their Families
The Building Blocks (Connecticut) system of care community's lead evaluator, Dr. Joy Kaufman, found herself on "the big stage" on May 6 when she testified at a special Congressional hearing about the noteworthy benefits that system of care initiatives like Building Blocks provide to young children, their families, and communities. Dr. Kaufman, who has evaluated several cooperative agreements in southern New England, was invited to travel to Washington D.C. with project director Sue Radway as part of the annual Children's Mental Health Awareness Day activities. Sharing the podium with California Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)/Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) center director, Kathryn Power, Dr. Kaufman used a powerful combination of empirical data and personal family reflections to advocate for the reauthorization of SAMHSA, and continuation and expansion of the Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI).
As part of the event, Dr. Kaufman provided a profile of the more than 200 young children with severe emotional and behavioral problems, and their families, that Building Blocks has served — mostly boys, about half of whom are age three or younger and many of whom are growing up in families who are poor. She described their typical challenges — a majority of the children presenting with disruptive behavior such as aggression, acting out, impulsivity, recklessness and excessive over-activity; about a third with excessive crying and tantrums; and 20 percent with severe sleeping problems. Fifty-seven percent of children under age six served by Building Blocks have been exposed to some type of traumatic event, including violence within their own families.
Prior to federal funding support for the Building Blocks initiative, most behavioral health providers in Connecticut had not been trained to serve young children. "One of our goals is to build our workforce," Dr. Kaufman testified, "and to date, Building Blocks has trained more than 2,500 individuals, including over 500 parents". Workforce development efforts have focused on teaching early care and classroom instructors techniques to help children with severe emotional difficulties to be successful in the classroom, on teaching parents techniques they can use with their children at home, and on enhancing the skills of clinicians working with the youngest children. In partnership with the Connecticut Infant Mental Health Association, Building Blocks has developed and promoted competency guidelines for professionals who work with infants and young children who have significant mental health needs across the state.
Building Blocks families are provided with care coordination that focuses on enhancing their strengths and developing a unified service plan, even when multiple providers are involved. Dr. Kaufman shared families' feedback supporting that model, including one mother's comments:
"The team meetings were great for us because we included the daycare and the school and everybody, and it just brought us to the same page on how to work with him. My Building Blocks team stressed his [my son's] strengths, when before everybody was looking at only the negative stuff. It has really helped a lot."
Particularly persuasive was the evidence of positive outcomes Dr. Kaufman shared about Building Blocks' children and families. She presented statistics indicating that children served have shown a decrease in problem behaviors and are less likely to be excluded from school. Further, as their skills in working with their children increase, and the children start doing better, parents have reported that their levels of parenting stress have significantly decreased, along with levels of depression. One parent's comment summarized these gains: "I think both of my children have made huge progress because I'm a different parent for them."
Dr. Kaufman concluded her testimony by quoting another Building Blocks parent, who reflected on the family-strengthening attributes of the program:
"One of the best things was that I was continuously told that this is my family, and any decision was mine to make. I felt in control of my family's destiny. Over time, my family's goals were met, and I felt confident in leaving Building Blocks, educated and with the tools I needed to continue to move forward."
Representative Napolitano, co-chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, authored a resolution designating May as Mental Health Month that received more than 400 votes. In addition to expressing her support for SAMHSA's reauthorization and for CMHI, Napolitano is now advocating for passage of H.R. 2531, the Mental Health in Schools Act, which would provide grant funding for preventive mental health services in public schools like those the Building Blocks graduates will be attending.