Recipient of AERA Outstanding Contributions Relating Theory to Practice Award: Interpretive Scholarship for 2004

Address the urgent need for individualized, coordinated mental health care with this book--the only one-stop reference for establishing, evaluating, and improving services and systems of care for children and adolescents with mental health challenges and their families. The new cornerstone of the highly respected Systems of Care for Children's Mental Health series, this comprehensive volume helps administrators, program developers, and clinicians from mental health and partner child-serving systems skillfully navigate every key issue they may encounter on the road to effective service delivery. Weaving all the latest research and best practices into a single accessible handbook, more than 60 expert contributors give readers the in-depth, practical knowledge they need to develop comprehensive, community-based, coordinated systems of care for youth with mental health challenges and their families avoid duplication and fragmentation of services across mental health and other child-serving systems develop individualized care plans for children with complex needs and implement the "wraparound" approach to service delivery incorporate evidence-based practices into systems of care use smart financing strategies that make the most of multiple funding streams ensure the full participation of families and youth in service planning and delivery improve services and care coordination across a variety of systems--schools, child welfare, juvenile justice work effectively with youth and families from diverse backgrounds and communities conduct accurate program evaluation and continuous quality improvement use the best professional development strategies to ensure a skilled and dedicated workforce Throughout the book, extended case studies of children, youth, families, and successful programs take readers beyond the abstract and reveal in vivid detail how high-quality services can transform the lives of children and youth--from early childhood to their transition to adulthood--as well as their families and caregivers. A must-own compendium of knowledge for anyone involved in shaping the future of mental health services, this book is the new blueprint for systems of care that truly respond to the needs of children, youth and families. Learn more about the Systems of Care for Children's Mental Health series.

A Focus on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Promoting Child and Adolescent Mental Health is written for health education students with a keen focus on how to build sustainable support systems across the community, classroom, schools and families to adequately promote positive behavior and mental health for both children and adolescents. The text addresses a wide range of learning challenges and mental health issues and outlines the support needed to provide communities and schools with the proper guidance to create an adaptable system which promotes child and adolescent mental health allowing them to flourish. The text presents mental health as a community-based challenge. By focusing on children and adolescents, it allows undergraduate and graduate students to concentrate on specific populations while acquiring skills that are applicable to a broad spectrum of diverse communities. This innovative text models teamwork across a variety of disciplines and encourages students to develop connections across communities and systems to promote child and adolescent mental health. Key Features • Text and resources draw from real-world experience of professionals who work in schools • Features course material currently used in school curricula • An emphasis on developing individual responsibility through active involvement with diverse communities • Evidence-based methods • A focus on practical application and simple, clear, relatable language • Real-life vignettes that launch each chapter and inspire discussion and further thought • Content that is easily adaptable for both undergraduate students and experienced human services professionals • Extensive instructor resources, including chapter outlines, text-linked teaching tips, test bank and answer key, and chapter-specific PowerPoint presentations • Action-based tips for promoting child and adolescent mental health • Extensive information on networking with other human services professionals to develop a larger framework of support for children and adolescents • Information on referrals, teams, partnerships, and collaborations