This guide was created to promote the early identification of children and adolescents with mental health and substance use problems as well as to provide guidance, tools, and resources for early identification--including a compendium of the most developmentally, culturally, and environmentally appropriate screening instruments. SAMHSA developed the guide using the input of the members of the Federal/National Partnership* (FNP) Early Identification Workgroup, chaired by representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Endorsement from Benedict Carey, science reporter, The New York Times: "Across my career covering mental health, I have fielded scores of urgent calls from readers: 'My brother's suicidal;' or, 'my daughter is on the street, psychotic' -what do I do? There was never one good answer. But now there is: a warmly written, deeply informed guide for families in crisis, by true experts with a lifetime of experience." About the book A Family Guide to Mental Health Recovery is for parents of adult children who struggle with a serious mental illness. Serious mental illness is complex, the mental health treatment system in the U.S. is fragmented, and you may often feel like your child's future has been overlooked. We want you to know there is hope for recovery. This guide is intended to help families get their bearings, understand the mental health system and its limitations, and build a path forward towards person-centered recovery. Additional Endorsements "This is a 'break the glass' kind of document to help you know how to respond to an emergency." "When you have just gotten the diagnosis, you think, "What the heck should we do?" This guide would have given us a new way of thinking about what was going on and what to do next. And it would have helped us in a crisis to know about all of the options." "I like how you have helped us to see that there is no single path to recovery. It would be good to repeat that there is no tried and true method for everyone. Each person is different." "Your treatment planning section shows that having a diagnosis does not mean that my family member should forget about her dreams of having a good life. The overall theme is that there is hope; there are things that are useful to try."

From two of the top child and adolescent psychiatrists at The Hospital for Sick Children comes an accessible guide to common mental health struggles, such as anxiety and depression, for any parent wondering how to help their child. Is my child okay? Is she eating and sleeping enough? Is he hanging out with the right people? Should I be worried that she spends all her time in her room? Is this just a phase? Or a sign of something serious? As parents, we worry about our children—about their physical health, performance at school, the types of friends they have, and, of course, their mental health. Every day seems to bring new and expanding issues and disorders and troubling statistics about the rise of mental illness in children and teens. It’s usually obvious what to do for physical injuries like broken bones, but when it comes to our children’s mental health, the answers are much less clear, and sometimes even contradictory. Pier Bryden and Peter Szatmari, top child and adolescent psychiatrists, are here to help. Using their combined six decades working with families and kids—and their own experiences as parents—they break down the stigma of mental health illness and walk parents through the warning signs, risk factors, prevention strategies, and the process of diagnosis and treatment for mental health challenges arising from: –Eating disorders –Anxiety –Psychosis –Sleep Disorders –Substance Use Disorders –ADHD –Autism –Depression –Trauma –Suicidal thoughts and behaviors The most important thing to remember as a parent is that you and your child are not alone. Wellness is a continuum, and there is a lot parents can do to bring their child back to a place of safety. The road ahead isn’t always easy or straightforward, but this guidebook offers essential advice that every parent needs to advocate for their child.

The purpose of this book is to provide a children’s mental health resource tailored to the needs of physicians working with children. There are currently no such texts, despite the fact that there are patient care, healthcare systems, and workforce factors that indicate a strong need for such a resource. Approximately 1 in 5 children are diagnosed with a mental illness by the age of 18. Additionally, mental health conditions, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, are consistently among the most common chronic conditions in pediatric clinical populations. Delays in both diagnosis and treatment increase the morbidity associated with these conditions. These delays expose the child to negative ramifications of his/her illness and can impact rates of poor academic performance, substance use disorders and criminal justice system involvement – potentially impacting long-term life trajectories. Early identification of mental illness and appropriate intervention is critical to the healthy development of youth, though physicians in primary care and pediatrics are seldom trained to detect and treat such illnesses. The importance of recognizing mental illness is reflected in practice guidelines for pediatric primary care providers as well as in how service delivery is being structured, but this does not offer in-depth clinical guidelines. Additionally, integrated care and medical home models include mental health as key components, though yet again physicians are often not trained to work with these models. While clearly indicated clinically, these requirements do not come with significant increases in reimbursement and are added to an already demanding schedule. Increasingly, providers are also expected to use evidence based screening instruments without exposure to this body of literature. Some guidance on using those instruments in context will help them to use those tools more effectively. Finally, primary care providers and even some adult psychiatrists and psychologists are operating in a healthcare system with a severe, nationwide shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists and mental healthcare providers. While a text certainly cannot single-handedly compensate for such a workforce shortage, it could potentially help to mitigate the negative impact on patients by facilitating early identification and treatment in the primary care setting. Additionally, with more effective treatment in pediatric settings, less complex cases may be addressed before specialty care is needed, and the expertise of child and adolescent psychiatrists can be more effectively used for more complex cases. Pediatric Psychiatry in Primary Care is the ultimate resource for clinicians working with children, including pediatricians, family physicians, general psychiatrists, psychologists, early career child psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, school counselors, and all clinical professionals who may encounter children struggling with psychiatric disorders.

Healthy mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) development is a critical foundation for a productive adulthood. Much is known about strategies to support families and communities in strengthening the MEB development of children and youth, by promoting healthy development and also by preventing and mitigating disorder, so that young people reach adulthood ready to thrive and contribute to society. Over the last decade, a growing body of research has significantly strengthened understanding of healthy MEB development and the factors that influence it, as well as how it can be fostered. Yet, the United States has not taken full advantage of this growing knowledge base. Ten years later, the nation still is not effectively mitigating risks for poor MEB health outcomes; these risks remain prevalent, and available data show no significant reductions in their prevalence. Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Children and Youth: A National Agenda examines the gap between current research and achievable national goals for the next ten years. This report identifies the complexities of childhood influences and highlights the need for a tailored approach when implementing new policies and practices. This report provides a framework for a cohesive, multidisciplinary national approach to improving MEB health.