National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

“Accessing Behavioral Health Services through Telehealth”—Fri., May 30, 2008
Children, youth, and families living in rural and frontier communities face significant disparities in access to quality behavioral health services. During an upcoming Webinar titled “Bridging the Gap in Rural Communities: Accessing Behavioral Health Services through Telehealth,” presenters will share an innovative model for using telecommunications to reach children, youth, and families in rural Appalachia, Ohio, and other rural locations. Participants will learn about how technology is used for telepsychiatry, tele-psychotherapy, clinical supervision, case consultations, workforce development, and management functions to enhance behavioral health services for children, youth, and their families. Challenges, opportunities, and considerations for the implementation of telehealth services will also be discussed. Telehealth processes hold great promise for rural and frontier communities working to improve access, acceptability, and availability of behavioral health services and supports.

This Webinar will take place Friday, May 30, 2008 at 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET (12:00–1:30 p.m. CT; 11:00–12:30 p.m. MT; 10:00–11:30 a.m. PT; 7:00–8:30 a.m. Hawaii). This call will be hosted by the Federal Interagency Rural Behavioral Health Workgroup in collaboration with the Technical Assistance Partnership and the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention.

Teleconference Recordings Now Available
Recordings of the past two teleconferences hosted by the National Center are now available for download on the Web site. Follow along with the PowerPoint slideshows as you listen to the speakers present on “Engaging Latino Families” (April 17, 2008) and “Connecting Social and Emotional Learning with Mental Health Promotion, Early Intervention, and Prevention in Schools” (May 7, 2008). These recordings also include the question and answer portions of the teleconferences. To download the teleconferences and access links to materials used during the calls, visit the Center’s Events page at http://www.promoteprevent.org/events/center-events.

Eyes on Bullying Teleradio Event
In March 2008, the National Center’s E-Newsletter announced Eyes on Bullying, a new multimedia program designed at Education Development Center, Inc., to help prevent bullying in children’s lives. In addition to the toolkit for parents and the Web site that includes a variety of resources and tools (visit http://www.eyesonbullying.org), the program also features one-hour teleseminars that allow participants to listen to experts on the subject and ask questions live. Caregivers in child care centers, after school and youth programs, and camps are encouraged to register for these events. The next teleradio event is the following:

The following is a summary of key findings from the fields of education, mental health, violence prevention, and/or youth substance abuse prevention.

Preventing Youth Suicide in Rural America
Statistics reveal that despite an overall decline in youth suicide in the United States, the suicide rate in rural areas remains unchanged. The continued high suicide rate in rural America is often attributed to (1) the continued concentration of risk factors for suicide in rural areas, (2) the challenges of providing suicide prevention and mental health services in areas with a relatively small population spread over a large area, and, (3) a reluctance to seek out services in a culture that sometimes stigmatizes mental health issues and has a history of individual and family self-reliance.

In summer 2007, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) and the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA) convened a Rural Youth Suicide Prevention Workgroup to explore how state agencies could more effectively address suicide among rural youth. The resulting report, Preventing Youth Suicide in Rural America: Recommendations to States, provides a concise summary of this problem and recommends strategies for addressing youth suicide and related mental health issues in rural areas.

Much of this report is directly relevant to rural SS/HS programs. Preventing Youth Suicide in Rural America points out that while rural communities have historically relied on clinical approaches to youth suicide prevention, clinical care and crisis intervention need to be complemented by a variety of strategies, including primary prevention and early intervention. The report suggests that suicide prevention be integrated into the work of educators, healthcare and social service providers, juvenile justice and public safety workers, and others representing key SS/HS partners. The report also makes recommendations for school-based mental health screening and suicide gatekeeping, developing systems of care that include school health clinics, the use of innovative technologies to train professionals in rural areas, and strategies to promote help-seeking behaviors.

Preventing Youth Suicide in Rural America: Recommendations To States can be downloaded from the SPRC Web site at http://www.sprc.org/library/ruralyouth.pdf.

This section highlights a few updates from the prevention field. Please go to http://library.promoteprevent.org for more news items and resources.

Spotlight on Children and Electronic Media
A recent journal issue published by The Future of Children (Vol.18, No.1) focuses on the world of electronic media and the role it plays in the lives of children in the 21st century. Contributors to this volume (available at http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=674322) examine evidence on how exposure to different media forms, including video games, instant messaging, and social networks on the Internet, is linked to various factors of child well-being, such as school achievement, social interaction, and risky behaviors. The editors of this volume encourage educators and families to promote child well-being by ensuring that children engage in media in a positive way.

One resource that speaks to parents and caregivers on understanding cyber-bullying and how to safeguard children from online predators is “Protecting Kids Online,” a 22-minute Internet safety video recently released by the Protecting Kids Online (PKO) Internet safety initiative sponsored in part by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency. The video, available online at http://www.center-school.org/pko, is accompanied by a user’s guide for school staff, parents and caregivers, and the community.

How Aware Are Parents of Youth Substance Use?
A recent report released by the Office of Applied Studies at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) examines parent awareness of youth substance use. Based on data from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), studies show parent awareness of youth cigarette use to be high while awareness of alcohol use is low and awareness of marijuana use is mixed. Youth substance use rates are also made available in this report. Read the report at http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k8/parents/parents.pdf.

New Publication on Youth Courts Now Available
Youth courts are an alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system as they are designed to “empower youth and communities to take an active role in addressing the early stages of youth delinquency” and are often run with the help of volunteers and ex-offenders. The Hamilton Fish Institute recently published a report that examines the operation of youth courts, how youth courts function as they mature, and the resources they use. The publication, titled Youth Courts: An Empirical Update and Analysis of Future Organizational and Research Needs, provides guidance for communities on how to build and sustain an organizational structure that allows youth courts to fulfill their mission of preventing young offenders from repeating antisocial behaviors. Access the report at http://hamfish.org/Publications/Serial/HFI_Youth_Courts_Report.pdf.

The Grant Opportunities page is updated regularly with announcements of current public and private grant competitions. Here is one of the listings you will find:

Title: COPS Secure Our Schools (SOS) 2008 Grant Program
Funder: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Description: Approximately $13 million is available in FY2008 to provide funding to law enforcement agencies to assist with the development of school safety resources and provide improved security at schools and on school grounds. This program will fund up to 50 percent of the total cost to implement one or more of the following options: placement and use of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures; security assessments; security training of personnel and students; coordination with local law enforcement; and/or any other measure that may provide a significant improvement in security.
Award: N/A
Eligibility: Law enforcement agencies
Deadline: June 13, 2008
For more information: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=240#sos

We regularly add to a detailed listing of conferences and events occurring within the National Center and across the nation. For example,

Date: July 16–20, 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Title: Developing Local Systems of Care for Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Needs and Their Families: New Directions to Improve Outcomes
Sponsor: National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch of the federal Center for Mental Health Services, and The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Description: The Training Institutes will focus on developing local systems of care for
children and adolescents with or at risk for emotional disturbances and their families. Systems of care emphasize community-based care, comprehensive and individualized services and supports, services provided within the least restrictive environment, full participation of families and youth, coordination among child-serving agencies and
programs, and cultural and linguistic competence. In-depth, practical information will be provided on how to develop and operate systems of care and how to provide high-quality, effective, clinical interventions and supports within them.
Web site: http://gucchd.georgetown.edu/programs/ta_center/TrainingInstitutes/
TI2008/TI08_std_web.pdf