DATE

CALL TOPIC
(AS WE MOVE CLOSER TO EACH CALL, MORE INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED) 

January 17

New Directions: Implementing A Public Health Approach Within Mental Health Service Delivery Systems

You have probably heard the words "A public health approach to mental health". There is significant work in place representing diverse disciplines to understand and support promotion, prevention, early identification and intervention as interrelated components of a full mental health continuum.  The time is right to start applying what we know and moving toward preventive and population-focused interventions that can be used by the many child-serving disciplines. 

This call will present core elements, concepts and complexities underlying a public health approach to mental health.  Presenters from SAMHSA, the state of Missouri and the Georgetown National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health will highlight federal, state and national efforts. 
 

February 21

The National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day: How to Get Out the Message 

May 8, 2008 is the next National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day.  The day is an opportunity for states and communities to communicate public health messages about prevention, resilience, and recovery and to build public support for increased service capacity.  Presenters will talk about how the Awareness Day initiative is a strategy for partnership development and how partnership development is a fundamental component for systems transformation.  The presenters will also discuss technical assistance available to states and communities to utilize this strategy.
 

The Validation of Family Involvement at the Policy, Planning and Service Levels

Family Involvement has been a cornerstone value in system of care development from the beginning. Documenting and validating the merits of family involvement has been an evolving process over the past decade. In this session, we will guide participants through several approaches to validation including evidence from research, formal data collection and anecdotes so that the case for family involvement is clear, documented and reflective of the family movement to date.
 

April 17

Providing Early Childhood Mental Health Services that Meet the Needs of Young Children and Their Caregivers: Building The Evidence Base

Services to young children must be delivered in homes, child care programs and other natural settings to be most effective. Since greater emphasis is being given to evidence-based practices, presenters will share some current programs and practices that are being used across the country. They will share strategies for collecting and using data to evaluate outcomes.
 

May 15

Cultural and Linguistic Competence Primer

This call will introduce the much anticipated Cultural and Linguistic Competence Primer (a collaboration between the National Alliance of Multi-ethnic Behavioral Associations, Georgetown National Technical Assistance Center, the National Center for Cultural Competence, and American Institutes for Research). It will provide an overview of the content of the primer and offer samples of two or three modules on such topics as: leadership, community engagement, and accountability and outcomes. 
 

June 19

Bringing Mental Health to the Public: A Call to Action

A public health approach to mental health is not new.  To support the movement towards a public health approach to mental health, a team of Georgetown faculty have embarked on the development of a monograph, with the support of SAMHSA, to inform and energize a national and community-based movement to apply a public health approach to strengthen the mental health and well-being of children and youth.

This call will present a preview of the monograph (to be unveiled at the July Training Institutes) and its critical elements.  Presenters will highlight strategies that will support a movement to educate policy makers at all levels, community leaders across the continuum, and family and youth leaders and advocates in a consistent and accessible way so that they can further the movement of implementing a public health approach to mental health.
 

September 18

Building Capacity for School Mental Health

This call will feature efforts underway in states and communities to build the capacity of schools, communities and states to initiate and sustain quality system change.  We will also discuss the economic benefits of integration of mental health and education.  Discussion will include ways that communities, states and tribal entities have built strategies for shared language and priorities between the distinctly different cultures in education and mental health.  How can we use the emerging knowledge base that shows the link between mental health and positive academic outcomes to bring all partners to the table?
 

October 16

Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Child Serving Systems

This session will focus on the persistent challenge of racial and ethnic disparities in child serving systems. One major issue has been the overrepresentation of youth of color in more restrictive settings, such as residential treatment centers, juvenile detention and incarceration, and out-of home placements through child welfare. This session will highlight strategies from within these systems to correct these problems, their outcomes to date, and suggestions for next steps.
 

November 20

Child and Family Services Reviews - An Opportunity to Work Together to Meet the Mental Health Needs of Children and Families

The Child and Family Services Review (CFSR), conducted by the federal Children?s Bureau in partnership with State governments, is a comprehensive monitoring and system reform effort designed to assist States in improving outcomes for children and families who receive services from public child welfare systems. The CFSR identifies strengths and needs within state programs related to the safety, permanency, and well being of children. It acknowledges that enhancing a child?s healthy development and providing families with the tools they need to care for their children will increase the likelihood of achieving these goals. Most children and families who connect with the child welfare system have experienced significant trauma and have a high prevalence of mental health needs; however, only about one-fourth of the children diagnosed with mental health needs receive specialty care. The CFSRs have identified an urgent need for mental health reform, and they also provide an opportunity for multiple child-serving agencies and families to work together on such reform. The CFSR expects that States will collaborate across systems to provide the mental health services needed to achieve child and family well being.

During this conference call, leaders from the Children?s Bureau will present a federal perspective, describing what they are looking for and what they have found in states. Leaders from one community and state will describe concrete strategies for working together through the CFSR process to address the mental health needs of children and families in the child welfare system. Researchers will describe the implications of national service delivery and management trends discovered in a mental health analysis of all 52 state CFSRs.  Presenters will describe how a shared commitment to system of care values (promoted through the CFSR process) can lead to improved outcomes for children and families. 
 

December 18

Partnership Based Leadership: Anchoring Challenges in the Common Vision

As the family movement continues to grow, family leaders are taking larger roles in system reform efforts at the local, state and national levels.  As a by-product of this growth, family leaders face challenges that require new approaches to partnerships that support their work as change agents.  This session will offer participants an opportunity to reflect on the process of building and sustaining strategic family-professional relationships, collaboratively identifying potential challenges and responding to them when they occur, and making necessary adjustments to ensure that challenges do not interfere with the relationship or the common vision.