News from the Field Archives - Page 22 of 48 - National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
Child Trends Brief: Applying the Research and Evaluation Provisions of the Family First Prevention Services Act
November 19, 2019 | Emily Taylor
Child Trends has published a brief with information for state agencies, legislators, and researchers on the Family First Act. The brief outlines research and evaluation requirements for prevention and kinship services currently eligible for federal reimbursement under the Family First Act.
Study: 1 in 5 Children Live in Counties without Child Psychiatrist
November 19, 2019 | Emily Taylor
Recent research published in Pediatrics tracked the number of child psychiatrists in the US over the past decade and how they are distributed by state and county. While the overall number of child psychiatrists increased by 21.3%, and the ratio of child psychiatrists per 100,000 children increased from 8.01 to 9.75. However, despite these increases, approximately 70% percent of US counties have no child psychiatrists, due to the concentration of child psychiatrists in high-income, urban areas.
Tools to Measure Progress in Implementing Trauma-Informed Approach
October 17, 2019 | Emily Taylor
The Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc. (CHDI) has published “Issue Brief 72: Are We Trauma-Informed? Tools to Measure Progress in a Program, School, or Organization,” which summarizes results of a research review they, along with the Yale School of Medicine, and the Medical University of South Carolina, did of 49 surveys evaluating trauma-informed approach. The reviewers identified four assessment tools as the most promising for evaluating an organization’s progress in implementing a trauma-informed approach.
Read the issue brief on evaluation of trauma-informed approaches»
2019 Children’s Mental Health Report: Social Media, Gaming and Mental Health
October 16, 2019 | Emily Taylor
The Child Mind Institute’s “2019 Children’s Mental Health Report: Social Media, Gaming and Mental Health” is intended to help parents, professionals and policymakers better understand the online lives of children and adolescents. The report includes information on the positive and negative mental health effects of online activities and provides guidelines for social media and internet use.
Family Instability and Children’s Social Development
September 20, 2019 | Emily Taylor
This recent research brief from Child Trends looks at family instability – changes in parents’ situations such as marriage, divorce, and romantic partners moving in or out of the home – and its potentially negative influence on children’s and adolescents’ functioning and behavior.
New: CLAS Toolkit: Advancing Health Equity and Racial Justice in Children’s Behavioral Health
September 11, 2019 | Emily Taylor
A new resource is available to help child- and family-serving organizations develop their own Health Equity Plans to advance health equity and to reduce racial injustice and health disparities within their organizations, services, and communities. Developed by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, CHDI, Beacon Health Options, and Health & Equity, LLC, the toolkit is based on the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care (National CLAS Standards).
Research: Team-Based Activities Beneficial for Children’s Mental Health
August 28, 2019 | Emily Taylor
A recent study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence looked at the benefits of different kinds of extracurricular activities on the mental health of children in grades 4 and 7. The results indicate that team-based activities had more benefits than individual activities. The researchers attribute the difference to a stronger sense of peer belonging.
Research: How to Protect Babies from Trauma Before it Happens
August 21, 2019 | Emily Taylor
This article discusses the work of The JPB Research Network on Toxic Stress, a multi-university group of researchers working to develop measures to identify children’s relative vulnerability to stress, in hopes of allowing for earlier intervention and prevention.
Study: Possible Genetic Link between Children’s Language and Mental Health
August 21, 2019 | Emily Taylor
A recent study led by the University of York found a possible genetic link between children with language disorders and poor mental health. The researchers analyzed genetic data from more than 5,000 children, clinical assessments on children’s language ability, and questionnaire responses from parents. The lead researcher, Umar Toseeb, said, “If our findings are confirmed in future work, it could mean that, rather than wait for children with developmental language disorder to show symptoms of poor mental health before intervening, mental health support is put in place as soon as language difficulties become apparent, as a preventative measure.”
Lessons Learned When Building the Evidence for a Child Welfare Practice Model
August 21, 2019 | Emily Taylor
Child Trends recently issued this brief for the child welfare field to highlight lessons learned from the evaluation of Success Coach, a post-reunification program developed by Catawba County, North Carolina. The authors also discuss the implications for other jurisdictions who may want to implement and evaluate similar post-reunification services. According to the authors, the new Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) “offers an opportunity for agency leaders and practitioners to begin to build evidence of success.”