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Integrating Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) into School Based Health Centers (SBHCs)
Adolescence is a time of dramatic physical, mental and emotional growth and development but also a time when significant risks exist. Adolescence is the time when many youth begin to experiment with alcohol and other drugs (AOD). Research has shown the brain is still developing until age 25 and is...
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The State of Children’s Mental Health and Associated Costs of a Fragmented System
Past public policy has focused mostly on children’s mental health issues—and with good reason. While 1 out of 10 children has a serious emotional disturbance, only 20% ever receive treatment. Children with mental health issues have the highest school dropout rate among all disability groups,...
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Early Childhood Social-Emotional Development: Building Healthy Foundations for A Lifetime of Success
A seminal publication in 2000 From Neurons to Neighborhoods, The Science of Early Childhood Development has established the importance of early childhood experiences on lifelong well-being (JP Shonkoff & DA Phillips, Eds., 2000). Ongoing research continues to demonstrate that the early years in...
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Hurricane Sandy Kids Need Substance Abuse Services
The catastrophic destruction of property and psyche on Staten Island wrought by Hurricane Sandy last October devastated thousands of our residents. The monster waves and tidal surges that overwhelmed communities on the Island’s East and South Shores destroyed 500 homes, sweeping some completely...
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Texting to Save Lives
At a family dinner, my granddaughter Sarah, a high school sophomore in Fairfield, CT, and I were talking about the tragedy in Sandy Hook. She asked me, “Why?” I talked about the need for school programs for early detection and prevention, but I had no real answers or solutions. Later, I...
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Treating Youth with Sexual Aggression: Stopping Predators? Or Meeting Needs?
For the last three decades, the Juvenile Starting Over (JSO) program at Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) has been treating Youth with Sexual Aggression (YwSA). It is the only community-based program in the area specially designed to help these young people cease their problematic sexual...
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Practice Principles for Group Work with Children and Adolescents in the Aftermath of Disasters and Other Traumatic Events
Following are four interrelated and overlapping practice for group work with young people impacted by disasters and other traumatic events; to help them to build coping skills and overcome isolation. These principles can be (should be) incorporated into any evidence-based practice that utilizes...
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Antidepressant Medications for Children and Adolescents: Information for Parents and Caregivers
Depression is a serious disorder that can cause significant problems in mood, thinking, and behavior at home, in school, and with peers. It is estimated that major depressive disorder (MDD) affects about 5 percent of adolescents. Research has shown that, as in adults, depression in children and...
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Managing Your Fear of Side Effects
Your child is morose, somber and irritable. She refuses to go to school or see friends. She is increasingly dysfunctional. The doctor suggests medicine and suddenly relief is on the horizon. Whether it’s the pain of depression or anxiety, the dysfunction of ADHD or the conflict that results...
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The NYSPA Report: Medication for Children and Adolescents
A doctor’s recommendation to use psychotropic medication for a child can lead to many concerns and questions in both the child and their parent. This article is meant to help clarify these concerns and help families understand that they can get safe, effective treatment for their child. The...
