News from the Field Related to Wraparound
Study Finds Suicide Rate for Girls Increasing Faster than for Boys
June 6, 2019
A recent NPR story reported on the results of a study analyzing changes in suicide rate trends. Based on analysis of more than 85,000 youth suicides between 1975 and 2016, researchers found a major shift occurred after 2007.The “increase was highest for girls ages 10 to 14, rising by nearly 13% since 2007. While for boys of the same age, it rose by 7%.”
In the commentary by Joan Luby and Sarah Kertz that accompanied the journal article, the authors conclude: “Increasing rates of suicidality may be the ‘canary in the coal mine’ signaling important health concerns arising from the increased and pervasive use of social media affecting child and adolescent development. Such a signal in general health would raise great alarm and calls to action, and it must not go unheeded in mental health.”
New Spanish Language Resource for Parents from NIMH
May 14, 2019
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has published a Spanish version of their brochure, “Children and Mental Health: Is This Just a Stage?”
This resource is designed to help families and caregivers identify symptoms, treatment options and resources to help their children.
Child Trends Brief: How to Implement Trauma-Informed Care to Build Resilience to Childhood Trauma
May 13, 2019
A recent Child Trends brief summarizes current research on childhood trauma and outlines a framework for implementing trauma-informed care in programs and services for children and families.
OJJDP Study Findings on Dual System Youth
May 8, 2019
OJJDP’s Dual System Youth Design Study aimed to identify challenges, successes and best practices in cross-system collaboration for working with youth who have been involved with child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Researchers found that “dual system youth had higher rates of over-representation of African Americans and higher proportion of females,” and had “longer histories in child welfare with more placements and higher rates of recidivism than youth with involvement in just one system.” The project also resulted in a best practices recommendations for cross-system collaboration.
Report: Success Plans – Promising Tools for Customizing Student Supports and Opportunities
April 25, 2019
A report published this month by the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Education Redesign Lab, focuses on Student Success Plans, a personalized tool for “capturing the full range of strengths and needs of children and youth in order to connect them with tailored, seamless, and equitable services and opportunities”. Along with the authors’ vision for Success Plans and recommendations for stakeholders, the report includes an overview of the emergence of personalized learning strategies and plans. There is also a companion toolkit for communities interested in creating and implementing Success Plans.
Mindful Parenting Benefits Emotional Health as Young Adults
April 25, 2019
Research published in January in Mindfulness found that young adults whose parents were supportive of them expressing emotions, tend to be more emotionally healthy and report lower levels of depression and anxiety. The study, led by Laura G. McKee, an assistant professor of psychology at Georgia State, used measures to assess college and graduate students depressive symptoms, anxiety, emotional regulation, mindfulness and recalled parental emotion socialization.
NIMH Children and Mental Health Resource Available in Spanish
April 9, 2019
A Spanish version of NIMH’s Children and Mental Health brochure,”Los niños y la salud mental,” is now available online. This resource on children’s mental health includes information for parents and other caregivers on when to seek help, evaluation, treatment, choosing a mental health professional and advice on how to work a child’s school as well as other resources.
Early Childhood Development
April 1, 2019
Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child has published a new online resource, “What is Early Childhood Development? A Guide to the Science” that explains how children develop in their earliest years, why that time period is so important, and the practical ways we can support early childhood development (ECD) and improve outcomes for children and families. The guide includes brief summaries of key findings and how they can guide policymakers and program developers to improve outcomes for children and families, as well as videos and other related resources.
Texting and Social Media Help Children of Divorced Parents Stay in Touch
March 15, 2019
Recent research looked at how parent-child relationships are affected by different types of co-parenting after divorce. The researchers identified three styles of co-parenting: cooperative;moderately engaged; and conflicted. They also looked at specific aspects of the parent-child relationship: parental warmth and closeness; parental knowledge of the child; and consistency of discipline. They found that the relationship between the parents was less important than the amount of contact between parent and child. For older children and teens, the use of texting and social media facilitates the direct contact between child and parent when they live apart.
Depression Diagnosis Often Missed for Children with Autism
March 14, 2019
This recent article from eparent, an online publication for parents of children with disabilities and special health care needs, discusses a tendency for depression to be overlooked in children with autism. The Autism Comorbidity Interview (ACI) screening tool has been developed to help address with diagnosis.