Articles in this special issue use survey data to provide policymakers with validated indirect needs assessment models that will help them obtain information about populations requiring different levels and types of mental health services. The articles provide the basis for predictive needs assessment and explanatory models of resource allocation.…

A synthetic method of estimating relative annual prevalence of severely mentally disabled (SMD) adults across Ohio's mental health board areas was evaluated. Indirect evidence of accuracy for the method, which relies on local catchment area data and local census data, is provided by comparison with actual SMD adult counts in federal programs. (SLD)

The first PhD specialty program in Geropsychology that launched in fall, 2004 at CU-Colorado Springs is described. Consistent with a scientist-practitioner model, the curriculum sequence builds systematically from basic to complex knowledge and skills across the domains of scientific psychology, research methodology, general clinical,…

Treatment for alcohol and drug disorders is changing. The evidence is emerging in federally sponsored reports, initiatives, and strategic plans from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The reports and…

The youth development approach has gained traction over the past twenty-plus years, across a range of youth-serving fields, including public health. While it is important for Adolescent Health Coordinators, other practitioners and policy makers focused on youth to be familiar with youth development concepts, it is critically important that they…

Onunaku, Ahlers, and Gilkerson describe Illinois's effort to build infant mental health capacity within the Part C Early Intervention system and Wisconsin's effort to build capacity for infant and early childhood mental health services statewide across all systems that serve children. Because of multiple funding streams, families often experience…

In January 1995, five community colleges were selected to participate in a year-long project to implement new teaching methods in associate degree nursing programs to better meet community needs. Supported by the American Association for Community Colleges, with seed money from the Metropolitan Life Foundation, all of the projects also had…

Nine schools report in this document on the challenges, successes, and lessons they have experienced while setting up Family Centers and bringing health and social services into their schools. These schools are part of a professional network of urban schools begun and facilitated by the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the…

This discussion of special education and mental health services for minority severely emotionally disturbed children identifies several issues in service delivery and impediments to service delivery. The identified issues are divided into the following categories: program development, the coordination of services, and service delivery systems;…

Children with serious emotional disorders receive inadequate and inappropriate services, rather than the comprehensive and coordinated system of care needed. To develop the knowledge needed to provide adequate and appropriate services, an alliance is needed among advocates, practitioners, and researchers. The Mental Health Services Program for…

This report summarizes the findings of a conference that examined the problem of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) among street and homeless youth. Street and homeless youth, by virtue of their circumstances and the behaviors they engage in, are at great risk of becoming infected with HIV,…

A new Unesco project seeks to increase the capacity of developing countries to strengthen primary school academic performance by improving children's nutrition and health status. The first technical meeting of the new project took place in Stockholm, Sweden, in April 1989. Three working groups were formed which focused on assessment, intervention,…

Developed by the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges in response to legislative mandate, this report provides a brief epidemiological background on the Human Immune Deficiency Virus epidemic, a summary of actions taken by the Board of Governors and the Chancellor's Office, results of a survey of the colleges regarding…

The Unitas Therapeutic Community is a mental health treatment and prevention program for Hispanic and Black children and teenagers in the South Bronx, New York City. Based on theories of therapeutic community and social psychology, Unitas stresses psychological methodologies that cultivate the healing potential present in all interpersonal…

To address some of the social, health, economic and cultural issues of growing older in America, Greenfield Community College (GCC) in Massachusetts sponsored a Celebration of Growing Older program. The 2-month long series of events was designed to educate the public, both young and old, about the myths of aging and to challenge some assumptions…