• Home
• About Us
  • About Us Home
  • SAMHSA / CMHS
  • Our Partners
  • Technical Assistance
  • Contact Us
• Systems of Care
  • Systems of Care Home
  • Have a Question?
  • Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services
  • Introduction To Systems Of Care
  • Implementing Systems Of Care
  • Evaluating Systems of Care
  • Sustaining Systems of Care
  • Systems of Care Catalogue
• Newsletter
  • Newsletter Home
  • Current Issue
  • Previous Issue
  • Featured Articles Archives
• System of Care Events
  • Events Calendar
  • Conference Calls
  • Conferences and Meetings
  • Webinars
• Community TA
  • Community Technical Assistance Home
  • Meet Your Technical Assistance Coordinator
  • Community Locator Map
  • Resources for Communities
  • System of Care Events
• Content Specialties
  • Content Specialties Home
  • Child Welfare
  • Cultural and Linguistic Competence
  • Early Childhood
  • Education
  • Family Involvement
  • Juvenile Justice
  • Mental Health
  • Organizational Development and Implementation
  • Primary Care
  • Substance Abuse
  • Young Adults of Transition Age
  • Youth Involvement
• Communities of Practice
  • Communities of Practice Home
  • Cultural and Linguistic Competence
  • Early Childhood
  • Family Involvement
  • Young Adults of Transition Age
  • Child Welfare

Feature Articles

Youth Matter!
Youth ‘Reach Out’ to Inspire! Discusses the “ReachOut Reelz” short video contest for youth, sponsored by the Inspire USA Foundation, in collaboration with the TA Partnership, Youth MOVE National, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Contestants created short videos that promoted positive mental health messages, reminding their peers that there are always good solutions to tough times.

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.

News You Can Use

• ICE Policies Leave Overburdened Foster-Care System in Their Wake
  This article explains the impact of placing the children of undocumented parents in foster care rather than placing them with relatives or trying to reunite them with their family.
• Bridging Cultural Divide Between Teachers and Students An Indianapolis public school is starting an initiative to increase the cultural competence of teachers through professional development for staff and pre-service training for college students preparing for teaching careers.
• Foster Kids Get Unneeded Psychotropic Drugs A Government Accountability Office report states that foster children have been prescribed psychotropic drugs at higher rates than non-foster children.
• U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Arguments on the Death Penalty for Very Young Violent Offenders The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a pair of cases that beg the question of whether imposing death sentences on youth under the age of 14 convicted of murder violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
• Study Finds Students of Color Receive Harsher Punishments This National Education Policy Center study found that Black and Hispanic students are more likely than their peers to be suspended when they break school rules.
• Defining Essential Health Benefits—The View from the Institute of Medicine Committee This article from The New England Journal of Medicine describes the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that a broad package of benefits for private health insurance (that are not necessarily covered in the private sector) are covered under Medicaid. The benefit package includes preventive health, prenatal and postnatal care, and behavioral health diagnosis and treatment.
• States Embrace Changes to the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Block Grant The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration revamped the State Mental Health and Substance Abuse Block Grants based on the information States provided in the Fiscal Year 2011 Block Grant application. This article explains the changes made and includes a map of the 22 States and two territories that submitted the information.

Research Update

• Inequities in Educational and Psychological Outcomes Between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Questioning (LGBTQ) and Straight Students in Middle and High School This study reveals that youth who identify as LGBTQ are at greater risk of having more unexcused absences from school, victimization by peers, and suicidal thoughts and/or attempts, compared with straight-identified youth.
• The Adolescent Brain: New Research and Its Implications for Youth Transitioning from Foster Care (PDF) This paper examines new research on adolescent brain development and its implications for child welfare practice for young people in foster care—specifically for those youth who experience trauma and loss.
• About Promoting Youth Development in Schools (PDF) Published by the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA, this article advocates for the investment in positive youth development strategies through school and community partnerships, and names schools as the logical loci of these efforts.
• How Child Abuse Changes the Brain This study links mental and behavioral disorders to environmental stress in children exposed to family violence.
• Young Adult Outcomes of Youth Exiting Dependent or Delinquent Care in Los Angeles County (PDF) One of the first of its kind, this report, funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, investigates the young adult outcomes of youth who age out of, or otherwise exit, Los Angeles County’s child welfare supervised foster care system and (or) juvenile probation system.
• A Systematic Review of Medical Treatments for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
  A Systematic Review of Early Intensive Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders Two new research reviews found a lack of evidence supporting many common interventions for autism spectrum disorders. However, researchers remain optimistic about several behavioral interventions despite methodological concerns related to their evaluations.
• Survey of Mental Health Consultation and Referral Among Primary Care Pediatricians The study examined the availability of on-site mental health providers and whether utilization was associated with greater odds of reported mental health consultation and referral among primary care pediatricians. The study concluded that most pediatricians experienced practice-related burdens that limited collaboration, but those with co-located services reported a greater likelihood of consultation and referral.
• Racial/Ethnic Variations in Substance-Related Disorders Among Adolescents in the United States Examines the extent of past-year DSM-IV substance-related disorders among youth 12–17 years of age of various races/ethnicities, and finds that Native American youth have the highest prevalence and disorder, whereas African Americans and Asians and Pacific Islanders have the least.
• Becoming an Adult: Challenges for Those with Mental Health Conditions (PDF) This research brief discusses issues related to individuals transitioning to adulthood who have serious mental health conditions.

Organizational Development and Sustainability

• Social Media Points the Way to Organizational Sustainability

Job Postings

• Assistant Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience
  The Psychology Department at Western Washington University invites applications for a tenure track, assistant professor position in behavioral neuroscience to begin in September 2012. Application review begins January 1, 2012. This position will remain open until filled.

Funding Opportunities

• Changes in Health Care Financing Initiative
  Application Deadline: Rolling
  Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) is an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that supports policy analysis, research, evaluation, and demonstration projects. Funded projects should provide public and private decision makers with usable and timely information on healthcare policy and financing issues.
• 2012 PeyBack Foundation Grant
  Application Deadline: February 1, 2012
  The PeyBack Foundation, the charity started by National Football League quarterback Peyton Manning, funds various programs in Indiana, Louisiana, and Tennessee focused primarily on promoting and providing positive relationships and activities for economically disadvantaged youth.
• SAMHSA Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)
  Application Deadline: January 12, 2012
  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will award five-year contracts to organizations that are capable of performing one or more of the project domains described in this notice.
• Americorps State and National Indian Tribes Planning Grant Competition
  Application Deadline: January 18, 2012
  This funding opportunity is intended to support Indian tribes in being better prepared to apply for future grant opportunities.

Publications and Web Sites

Events

Visit the TA Partnership's System of Care Events Calendar for more information about TA Partnership and National TA Provider events.

• 23rd International Youth Leadership Conference
  January 8–13, 2012 | Prague, Czech Republic
  Youth representing over 35 nations will gather to strengthen their leadership skills and explore their diverse perspectives during an open-minded exchange on politics, policy, health, and other global issues.
• 2012 American Correctional Association Winter Conference
  January 20–25, 2012 | Phoenix, Arizona
  This event for professionals from around the world will feature many sessions focused on operating correctional settings for youth and adults.
• Improving Maternal and Child Health Across the Lifespan: Acting Today for Healthy Tomorrows
  February 11–14, 2012 | Washington, District of Columbia AMCHP 2012 Annual Conference
  This Annual Conference of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) will explore the critical life-span approach to optimizing the health of women and children, and initiatives that will directly impact state health agencies.
• Stigma, Discrimination, and Disparities in Children Services Conference
  February 15–17, 2012 | San Diego, California
  Hosted by the Family and Youth Round Table, attendees will share ideas and learn from experts about what public systems, community-based organizations, schools, researchers, families, and youth can do to ensure equity in children’s services.
• Making Children a Priority: Leading Change
  February 26–29, 2012 | Arlington, Virginia
  This conference will focus on innovative approaches and multi-system collaborations that are needed to support America’s children and youth.
• 2012 Annual Meeting: Impact of Trauma on Teens, Building the Safety Net
  March 14–17, 2012 | New Orleans, Louisiana
  Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine The meeting, which is intended for specialists in the field as well as any other health professionals who want to learn about the unique needs of adolescents and young adults, will offer innovative research, clinical workshops, and discussion forums.
• True Colors XIX: Celebrating Our Allies
  March 16 and 17, 2012 | Storrs (Hartford area), CT
  Our True Colors is hosting its annual conference, which focuses on the needs of sexual and gender minority (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) youth and their allies. The conference includes workshops on numerous topics such as cultural competence, youth leadership training, school and community gay-straight alliances, and social justice. The conference has sessions for youth, who attend in large numbers, as well as professionals.
• 2012 Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness
  April 10–12, 2012 | Washington, DC
  This event is designed for stakeholders who serve youth to together develop meaningful ways to coordinate and integrate services using youth and family voices, as well as share evidence-based practices. Registration deadline is February 15, 2012.
• Together Against Stigma: Changing How We See Mental Illness 5th International Stigma Conference
  June 4–6, 2012 | Ottawa, Canada
  Organized by the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the World Psychiatric Association Scientific Section on Stigma and Mental Illness, this international conference will focus on effective interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination against those with mental illness.