This study used administrative data to compare the socio-demographics, health conditions, and health service use of autistic adults with adults with and without other developmental disabilities, after matching for age and sex. Autistic women and men were more likely to have a wide range of physical and mental health conditions compared to adults…

Thirty-seven of 43 (86%) agencies operating child welfare residential treatment centers in New York State responded to a survey about the provision of mental health services. Questions were asked about provision of services, satisfaction with services, and suggestions for improvement in five domains: therapeutic milieu, individual therapy, group…

Mental health workers are critically examining modes of service delivery. Crisis intervention offers a way to apply to mental health problems some concepts of primary prevention that have been successful in the public health field. (Author)

This background paper on children's mental health indicates that less than one-third of the children who have mental health problems receive treatment. Types of mental health problems are discussed, including intellectual, developmental, behavior, emotional, psychophysiological, and adjustment disorders. Enviromental risk factors of poverty and…

A methodology was developed for conducting a benefit-cost analysis of an innovative supported employment intervention for the psychiatrically disabled. Results indicated that the program, which targeted 19 participants, approached cost efficiency of almost .90 of benefits to costs. The value of the methodology for program evaluation is discussed.…

Crisis intervention is a now accepted form of brief therapy that has become the treatment of choice for many individuals seeking to cope more effectively with life stresses. Recently, there has been an evolution of several disparate styles of crisis intervention in the direction of one convergent model. The screening/assessment style that…

Administered Mental Health Servicves Questionnaire to 100 older and 100 middle-aged adults. Found that age groups did not differ in how they defined serious psychological problems. Both age groups equally identified professional mental health services as appropriate for helping individuals with psychological problems. Although age did not affect…

Describes the Kindergarten Intervention Program in Los Angeles, a model for recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers to help kindergarten students with special needs. Provides specific steps for initiating an early intervention mental health program using trained volunteers. (TE)

This paper describes a New York State program developed to serve violent juvenile delinquents in need of mental health intervention. Since two separate state agencies had to be involved in the design and operation of this project (the Department of Mental Hygiene, which traditionally excludes "anti-social" youths from its psychiatric…

Describes the Southwest Denver Community Mental Health Center, an innovative program with documented success in keeping chronic psychiatrically disabled clients out of the hospital. Future merging of rehabilitation and mental health systems could further benefit the people of southwest Denver. (Author)

This paper describes the Home-Based Crisis Intervention (HBCI) program in New York and the outcomes of a study that investigated the effectiveness of the program. The HBCI program provides short-term intensive in-home services to families with children who are at-risk for out-of-home placements. Counselors work with families to prevent psychiatric…

This report describes how, in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo, the South Carolina Department of Mental Health activated its Emergency Preparedness Plan to assist mental health centers and their staff in providing crisis counseling services to the general public. The first section explains the history and structure of the involvement by the…

This article outlines problems associated with large mental hospitals, describes how knowledge gained from these problems can be used to create alternative treatment programs, and introduces the papers in this special issue on community-based treatment programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. (JDD)

Describes the role of mental health and educational consultants working with a five-year-old selectively mute child in Head Start. Describes strategies implemented in the interdisciplinary work with the teachers, parent, speech therapist, and child. Suggests that the more flexible and adaptive the consultant, the more accepted he or she will be…