NAMI Beginnings - Summer 2009

Summer 2009 � Issue Thirteen

Goldie HawnJoins NAMIin StandingUp forChildren’sMentalHealth

CrisisInterventionandSchoolResourceOfficers

The Yo u t h Vo i c e � S t a t e a n d A f f i l i a t e N ew s � Fam i l y Vo i c e

A Publication Dedicated to the Young Minds of America from the NAMI Child & Adolescent Action Center

2 | Nami Beginnings | Issue 13 | Summer 2009

C O N T E N T S

NAMI Beginnings is publishedquarterly by NAMI, Colonial PlaceThree, 2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300,Arlington, VA 22201-3042.Ph: 703.524.7600 Fax: 703.524.9094

Michael Fitzpatrick, Executive DirectorDarcy E. Gruttadaro, J.D., Editor-in-ChiefDana C. Markey, Managing and

Copy EditorJoe Barsin, Art Director

Guest Contributors:Katelyn BakerTricia BakerPamela GoldbergBrenda HilligossAnna LeProvostLouise Pyers, M.S.Knute RottoAngie ThielSergeant Jon VanZandtMark D. Weist, Ph.D.

Staff Contributors:Darcy Gruttadaro and Dana MarkeyThe National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is thenation’s largest grassroots mental health organizationdedicated to improving the lives of individuals and familiesaffected by mental illness. NAMI has over 1,100 affiliatesin communities across the country that engage in advocacy,research, support, and education. Members of NAMI arefamilies, friends, and people living with mental illnessessuch as major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder,post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and borderlinepersonality disorder.

NAMI Web site: www.nami.orgNAMI HelpLine: 1.800.950.6264

P O L I C Y A L E R T S

AMI played a key role inorganizing a legislativebriefing on May 7th onCapitol Hill in honorof National Children’s

Mental Health Awareness Day.The theme for this year’s briefing

was Investing in the Educational Futureof Youth with Mental Health Needs.The presentations focused on raisingawareness about school and community-based programs that effectively promotepositive youth development, increaseresiliency and support recovery, anddemonstrate how youth with mentalhealth treatment needs can thrive intheir school and communities.

Goldie Hawn, Academy-AwardWinning Actress and Children's MentalHealth Advocate, brought her starpower to this year’s briefing. Hercelebrity status and commitment tochildren led to a standing-room onlycrowd and strong attendance byCongressional members and staff.

Ms. Hawn spoke during the briefingabout the critical need for schools tobetter address the needs of studentswith mental illness and how school-based programs can effectively benefitthe health and well-being of all students.

She was followed by Kathryn Power,Director of the Center for MentalHealth Services (CMHS). Ms. Powershared newly released data from sys-tems of care grant sites around thecountry. The data show that about 65%of youth in systems of care grant sitesreceived some mental health services inschool. These youth achieved manypositive outcomes as a result of thoseservices including improved access tomental health services, improvedschool attendance and performance,reduced drop-out rates, reduced ratesof students changing schools, andmore.

The final speaker was HowardMuscott, Ed.D., Director of the NewHampshire Center for EffectiveBehavioral Interventions and Supports.Dr. Muscott talked about the importanceof investing in positive behavior supports(PBS) and the positive outcomes theyhave achieved in New Hampshirethrough this program. In NewHampshire, they continue to developstrong links between schools and thecommunity mental health system.This is essential so that schools canrefer students that require moreintensive mental health services that gobeyond the expertise of school-basedmental health professionals.

After the briefing, Goldie Hawnjoined NAMI and other advocacygroups for a “meet and greet” withCongressional mental health champions.She shared information withCongressional members and staff aboutan education program developed byThe Hawn Foundation for gradesK-7 that helps students develop key,practical skills to address their

2 POLICY ALERTSCapitol Hill Watch

3 Back to the Chalkboard:Redefining the Role of Schoolsin Children’s Mental Health

5 Crisis Intervention and SchoolResource Officers

8 FAMILY VOICE

10 THE YOUTH VOICE

11 ASK THE DOCTOR

13 STATE NEWS

14 AFFILIATE NEWS

15 BOOK REVIEW

Capitol Hill Watchby Darcy Gruttadaro, J.D., Director, NAMI Child &Adolescent Action Center

Goldie Hawn Joins NAMI in Standing Up for Children’s Mental Health

Goldie Hawn, Founder of The HawnFoundation, Academy Award WinningActress, and Children’s Mental HealthAdvocate

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emotional, mental, and social well-being (learn more about this programat www.thehawnfoundation.org).

The briefing was a tremendoussuccess. To learn more about it, visitthe Child & Adolescent Action Centeron NAMI’s Web site at www.nami.org/caac. Mark your calendars for nextyear’s National Children’s MentalHealth Awareness Day on May 6, 2010.Stay tuned for more details!

Shifting gears to health care reform,Congressional leaders are working onlegislation to reform our nation’s healthcare system. They are moving towarduniversal coverage. This critical nationaldebate involves drafting complexlegislation that is expected to moveforward in separate House and SenateCommittees this summer and possiblyto the White House this coming fall.

NAMI supports the overarchinggoals articulated by President Obamaand congressional leaders on thefollowing issues:• Universal health care coverage;• Health care cost containment;• Health care quality improvement;

and• Protecting existing coverage for

those who have it.

Beyond these principles, NAMI isalso supporting a range of prioritiesto address the needs of children andadults living with mental illness.As part of this process, NAMI hassubmitted detailed recommendationsto Congress and is supporting a rangeof discreet legislative proposals that areexpected to be a part of the debate inCongress. You can review NAMI’sagenda for health reform, includingprinciples for health reform, federallegislation that NAMI is supporting,and related information on our Website at www.nami.org (click on InformYourself About Public Policy, and CurrentPolicy News and Alerts). Stay tuned forfrequent updates on developmentsrelated to health care reform!

Summer 2009 | Issue 13 | Nami Beginnings | 3

Back to the Chalkboard:

Redefining theRole of Schools inChildren’s MentalHealthby Knute Rotto, CEO, Choices, Inc.

chools are charged with thedifficult task of educatinga breadth of students withdiverse needs and learningstyles. This is especially

difficult in the current economic timeswhen school funding is being cut,educational staff are being downsized,and classes are getting larger. Schoolsare having much more difficultymeeting the needs of all students.

Schools struggle with providingeffective educational opportunities forstudents with mental health treatmentneeds even under ideal circumstances.In Washington, D.C., lawsuits haveled to schools being required toensure that students with mentalhealth treatment needs are providedwith the services they need to remainin school and achieve academicprogress.

The national reform efforts onimproving the delivery of mentalhealth services to youth that beganin the 1980s, recognized schools as anatural entry point for addressing themental health of students. Schools,recognizing the importance of soundmental health as an essential supportfor academic success, often led thecharge for school-based mental healthprograms as part of broader schoolreform efforts.

Much of the recent research on themental health status of children andyouth points to public schools as the

major providers of mental healthservices for school-aged children.School Mental Health Services in theUnited States, 2002–2003, the firstnational survey of school mentalhealth services, documents thatschools are responding to the mentalhealth treatment needs of theirstudents; however, it also highlightsthe increasing need for mental healthservices and the multiple challenges

schools face in addressing this need.For example, virtually all schoolsreported having at least one staffmember whose responsibilitiesinclude providing mental healthservices to students, however thatstaff member is typically a guidancecounselor, psychologist, or social

SSchools struggle

with providing

effective educational

opportunities for

students with mental

health treatment

needs even under

ideal circumstances.

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worker with multiple obligationsand too often little training orexperience in providing mentalhealth services.

In Indiana, Indianapolis PublicSchools (IPS) intentionally reachesout to local community mental healthcenters (CMHC) to invite them intothe schools to provide services. IPSprovides welcoming atmospheres forcommunity mental health professionalsand space for therapists and casemanagers. Treatment is fundedprimarily through the child’s insurance,most often Medicaid. CMHC staff workclosely with school staff, especiallyschool social workers and schoolnurses, to ensure that children’s primaryhealth care and other needs are met.

However, IPS found that even theseefforts were not effective for a relativelysmall subset of children. One-on-onesupport was necessary to keep manyof these children in school, so IPSemployed full-time school aides butfound that increasingly more of thesechildren were placed in expensive,restrictive settings. In mid-2002, apartnership developed between IPS andChoices, Inc., which helped to changethe story in these children’s lives.Choices, Inc. operates the DawnProject, an Indianapolis-based systemof care initiative that was developedwith a Center for Mental HealthServices (CMHS) systems of care grant(to learn more about these grants, visitwww.systemsofcare.samhsa.gov).A community-based system of careincludes a wide range of mental healthand related services and supports thatare coordinated to meet the needs ofchildren and families. It is designed tohelp children and adolescents with

mental illness, with the active partici-pation of their families, get the servicesthey need without being placed out oftheir home and community.

The Dawn Project has served 216IPS referred children. The success ofthis collaboration is attributed in largepart to the strong commitment fromthe school district to provide treatmentand support for children in theirhomes and schools instead of morerestrictive settings and their willingnessto invite community partners into theschools to make this happen.

In 2003, Choices, Inc., PASSWORDCommunity Mentoring, a community-based program that links professionallytrained mentors with youth who arein crisis, and IPS worked togetherto develop a school-based system ofcare model. This model, titled theFull-Purpose Partnership (FPP), waspiloted in three IPS elementary schoolsin 2003. By 2008, FPP had expandedto 12 elementary schools. FPP schoolsdo the following:1. Intentionally merge home, school,

and community to create theconditions necessary for academicand behavioral success for allstudents.

2. Serve the strengths and needs ofall students, while enhancingindividualized support options forstudents in need and their families.

3. Provide full access to necessaryresources and supports for all stu-dents and their families.

4. Provide opportunities for successthrough individualized and coordi-nated combinations of resources andsupports that are not driven solelyby predetermined entry criteria.

“The primary difference betweencustomary schools and a FPP schoolis that we have really worked towardinclusion of all students,” said ThemiseCruz, a parent of two students attendinga FPP school. “Our principal hasprovided a sense of openness andsafety that brings together parentsand teachers.”

Dr. Jeffrey Anderson of IndianaUniversity and principal investigatorfor the external evaluation of FPP, hasshared that the research clearly showsthat when parents and teachers arebetter connected, student outcomesimprove, “preliminary evaluation ofthe school-based system of care modelshows that parents and teachers aresatisfied and feel more connected toeach other.”

The primary goal of FPP is to buildand sustain a home-school collaborativeculture that focuses on preventing andquickly intervening when emotionaland behavioral difficulties developfor children, while at the same time,promoting safe and nurturing learningenvironments for all children.

Stephanie Ropa, IPS Coordinatorfor FPP and Elementary EducationallyHandicapped Programs, notes thatFPP schools have experienced “a hugereduction in the number of studentswho are on a reduced school day.”She also notes that “there has been anincrease in the number of students whoare able to be in the general classroomwho were previously in a self-containedsetting.”

Working together, schools andthe community mental health systemcan redefine the role of schools inchildren’s mental health. Welcomingmental health providers into theschools and partnering with the localsystem of care that brings families,family advocates, and natural supportsto the table is how one communityis accomplishing the ultimate goal—keeping kids at home, in school, andout of trouble.

For more information aboutChoices, Inc., contact Knute Rottoat 1 (317) 205-8202 [email protected].

Outcome Measure Percent

Girls with ADHD Emotional needs addressed at discharge 100

Behavioral needs addressed at discharge 75.6

Youth who did not engage in delinquent behaviors orexhibit behaviors that place others at risk for harm 100

2008 IPS Dawn Referral Annual Report Outcomes

chool Resource Officers(SROs)1 are faced with thechallenge of wearing manydifferent hats. The typicalSRO will spend his or her day

addressing a multitude of schoolissues. In many cases, the SRO musttread the fine line of being a lawenforcement professional while alsobeing a school staff member.

In 1992, I was placed in the schoolsetting as an SRO. This was not a high-ly sought after assignment at that time.I was already involved with teachingkids anti-drug and anti-gang programsso it was suggested that I would be a“perfect fit.” My first thought wassheer terror! Here I was a street copbeing placed into middle schools to besurrounded by 1,800 middle schoolstudents all day long. At the time Ithought this was the end of my careerin law enforcement. After all, no selfrespecting cop wants to be referred toas a “kiddie cop.” I never thought thatI would last in the assignment, letalone find that it is truly the mostrewarding job in law enforcement.

Being assigned to the school settingis not what most cops sign up to do.I thought that this assignment wouldinvolve teaching a few classes, helpingkids through some rough times, andperhaps having the opportunity tomake a difference in the life of a child.Never in my wildest dreams did I imag-ine that this assignment would be aschallenging as it became. Workingwithin the school setting and trying tobalance the needs of the law enforcementcommunity and the school were notthe only challenges I faced. My agencywas new to the SRO assignment so Ihad to pave my own path. In doing so,I quickly learned that school principalswere in charge and I was there to assist

them in making their school the safestplace possible.

When I first started out, I had noformal training. I strongly encouragethat all SROs receive formal training. Iwas faced with new laws and procedures,school protocols, and unique problemsassociated with the school setting.Most cops never have to deal with stateeducation laws, special education laws,or the multitude of mental healthissues that our schools are dealingwith each and every day. Normally,when a cop is called to a school, it isfor a criminal report. You take thereport, make the arrest, and leave. Youdo not have to deal with the aftereffectsof the incident until your next courtappearance. The circumstances areentirely different for SROs. Theyhave to deal with problems from startto finish.

The first true test for the SRO is thecounseling. Most SROs are not profes-sionally trained mental health profes-

sionals. Yet, unfortunately, many SROsface mental health issues within theirfirst few days in the school. Whether itis a relationship problem, a criminalmatter, or a student that needs to beput back on the right path, the SROmust address it. The frightening part isknowing how to address this effectively.Fortunately, I was surrounded by someof the best school administrators in thearea. I quickly learned that in order tohelp the students, I needed to find thenecessary training in the areas ofschool-based policing, mental health,and school laws.

As new SROs develop their ownstyle, many face the never-ending prob-lems associated with students withmental illness. Schools are faced withmany issues associated with youngpeople who are truly suffering and notreceiving the proper care. In somecases, this is because students do notknow where to go, in others it isbecause their parents are in denial.The common denominator seems to bethat parents are both frightened andfed up with their child’s actions. Thesestudents often cause a great deal of dis-ruption in school and in their homes.In many cases, these disruptions resultin a call to the local law enforcementagency for assistance. One thing isclear, law enforcement officers need tobe educated in how to address theneeds of these young people.

Several years ago, I attended a CrisisIntervention Team (CIT) training class.The CIT program is a dynamic collabora-tion of law enforcement and communityorganizations committed to ensuringthat individuals with mental healthtreatment needs are referred to appro-priate services and supports rather thanthrust into the criminal justice system.CIT has several essential components,


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Crisis Intervention and SchoolResource Officersby Sergeant Jon R. VanZandt, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado

S

1SROs are law enforcement officers employed by law enforcement agencies to collaborate with school and community organizations. Some SROs are directly employed by schools.

Sergeant Jon R. VanZandt

including: training to help law enforce-ment better understand and addressindividuals experiencing a psychiatriccrisis; collaboration between lawenforcement and community systemsto create effective linkages with mentalhealth services instead of arrest andincarceration; and inclusion of peoplewith mental illness and their familiesat every level of the program. CIToriginally focused on adults but has

expanded to better meet the needs ofyouth experiencing a psychiatric crisisin the school or community setting.

CIT training was one of the mostchallenging classes I have ever taken.It is also easily adaptable to the schoolsetting. Ms. Keri Fitzpatrick, ColoradoCIT Manager, Mrs. Heather Cameron,and Commander Joe Cassa, WheatRidge Police Department, were instru-mental in combining veteran SROs

with the CIT staff to build a programdesigned for law enforcement officersworking in schools. After a year ofplanning, Children in Crisis (CIC) wasformed. This 24-hour training programtakes officers who have already takenthe 40-hour CIT training class, througha program that addresses the mentalhealth needs of children and adoles-cents. Officers who have gone throughthis training have commented that ithas given them a better understandingof how to help these young people andtheir families. It is essential that SROsbe trained in the CIT and CIC programsbecause of their constant interactionswith young people struggling withmental illness.

Training officers in the CIT and CICprograms is the easy part. The morechallenging part comes when theseofficers need to help schools addressthe needs of students with mentalhealth issues. Many schools withoutSROs have had less than positiveresults from officers coming into theirschools and being asked to deal witha child in crisis. This is extremelydifficult because the officer does nothave the history, background, schoolinteractions, or daily contact withstudents. SROs can often better addressthe needs of students because theyknow them better from seeing themon a regular basis.

Implementing the CIC philosophyin the school setting is not always easy.It takes a positive relationship withschool administrators and mentalhealth professionals in the community.In my case, this was a pleasant experi-ence. Our local county mental healthcenter is staffed by a person who iscommitted to the CIT program and toproviding constant assistance to lawenforcement professionals trying tohelp those in need of mental healthservices. I would be remiss in thisarticle if I did not mention Mrs. MaryAnn Hewicker. She has been instru-mental in assisting Adams County lawenforcement officers with their CITand CIC training. I can only imaginehow much assistance law enforcementofficers across the United States couldgive people with mental health needs if


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The Institute ofMedicine (IOM)recently releaseda report titledPreventing Mental,Emotional, andBehavioralDisorders Among

Young People: Progress and Possibilities.The report discusses the researchbase on the potential lifetime benefitsof preventing mental, emotional, andbehavioral disorders in youth. It alsoshares information about early pro-motion and prevention interventionsand programs that can be effective indelaying or preventing the onset ofmental, emotional, and behavioraldisorders.

The report calls for the implemen-tation of the best available evidence-

based interventions with at riskyouth before the onset of a mentalillness and also calls for the promo-tion of positive mental, emotional,and behavioral development for allchildren, youth, and young adults.

Mental health problems affectlarge numbers of young people.Almost one in five young peoplehave one or more mental healthdisorders at any given time. Amongadults, half of all mental, emotional,and behavioral disorders have onsetby age 14.

To learn more about the IOMreport, Preventing Mental, Emotional,and Behavioral Disorders AmongYoung People: Progress and Possibilities,visit www.iom.edu (click on MentalHealth).

Institute of Medicine Releases Report on Preventing Mental,Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People

The U.S. Preventive Services TaskForce (USPSTF) recently releasedrecommendations urging physiciansacross the United States to performroutine depression screenings foradolescents between the ages of 12and 18 when appropriate services arein place to ensure accurate diagnosis,treatment, and follow-up care. Thepanel also recommended not limitingscreening to high risk groups becauseyouth struggling in silence would bemissed. The task force is an extremely

influential independent panel ofexperts convened by the federalgovernment to establish guidelinesfor treatment in primary care.

The task force indicated thatscreening, when followed by treat-ment, including psychotherapy, canhelp improve symptoms and helpyouth cope. Undiagnosed depressioncan lead to persistent sadness, socialisolation, academic problems, andsuicide.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommends DepressionScreening for Adolescents

they had someone like Mary Ann toassist them!

Once officers are trained in the CITand CIC programs, the next step is toget schools to commit to program use.SROs are constantly working on waysto improve their relationship withschool administrators. The schooladministrator in the school district Iwas assigned to was quick to accept thebenefits of the CIT and CIC programs.Any responsible school administratorshould welcome assistance with stu-dents in crisis. After all, the SRO phi-losophy is based on the triad system;teacher, counselor, and cop. The coppart is easy for SROs. The teacherpart takes a little more time, and thecounselor part is a constant learningprocess that takes a great deal of timeand patience to develop.

Once school administrators in myschool district observed how well wecould assist students in crisis, thedemand for our services increased.Parents began to reach out to us forassistance. We were able to refer themto local resources and more important-ly, assist the student, school, and familywith the continued support that theyso desperately needed. Without theCIT and CIC programs, this would nothave happened.

SROs need training in many areas.The National Association of SchoolResource Officers (NASRO) offers someof the best SRO training in the world.CIT and CIC programs should be arequirement for any law enforcementagency that has officers assigned to theschools. After all, what more importantservice can we give to our citizens?

To learn more about CIT and CICtraining for SROs, please contactSergeant Jon VanZandt at 1 (720) 322-1115 or at [email protected].

Editor’s Note: Sergeant Jon R.VanZandt is a 22-year veteran of theAdams County Sheriff’s Office inColorado. He is a veteran instructor forNASRO and instructs SRO classesacross the United States. He is the CITCoordinator and the SWAT HostageNegotiation Team Leader for theSheriff’s Office.


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hildren with AttentionDeficit/ HyperactivityDisorder (ADHD) who takemedication to treat thecondition tend to do better

in math and reading compared totheir peers who also have ADHD butdo not take medication, accordingto data from a national survey.The study, funded by the NationalInstitute of Mental Health (NIMH),was recently published in the May2009 issue of Pediatrics.

BackgroundADHD, which is characterized bypoor concentration, distractibility,hyperactivity, impulsivity, and othersymptoms, can adversely affect achild's academic performance.Compared to their peers without thedisorder, children with ADHD tendto have lower grades, lower math andreading scores, and are more likely torepeat a year or drop out of school.

Richard Scheffler, Ph.D.,University of California Berkeley, andcolleagues analyzed a sample of 594children diagnosed with ADHD whowere part of the nationally represen-tative Early Childhood LongitudinalStudy—Kindergarten Class of 1998to 1999, a U.S. Department ofEducation survey. The children weresurveyed for various issues five timesbetween kindergarten and fifth grade.The researchers focused on thechildren's math and reading scoresto determine if medication use forADHD was associated with academicachievement during elementary school.

Results of the StudyThe study found that students withADHD who took medication hadmath scores that were on average2.9 points higher and reading scoreson average 5.4 points higher thantheir un-medicated peers withADHD. This equated to gains thatwere equivalent to the progresstypically made in one-fifth of a

school year in math, and one-third ofa school year in reading. Improvementsin reading, however, were seen onlyin students who had been takingmedication for at least two rounds ofthe survey. The authors suggest thatthe different findings between mathand reading scores may point tounderlying differences in the processof learning.

SignificanceThe findings echo previous studiesthat have found that use of ADHDmedication can improve children'sattention and memory skills, whichcan help them do better in school.In addition, the improvement isnotable because early academicsuccess often predicts later schoolprogress, said the researchers.However, they caution that the gainsare not enough to eliminate theachievement gap typically seenbetween children with ADHD andthose without the disorder.

What is NextThe findings support the need forlong-term studies designed to betterunderstand the relationship betweenmedication use and academicachievement in children with ADHD.The authors also conclude by notingthat more research is needed oncombining medication with behav-ioral interventions to improve theschool performance of childrenwith ADHD.

Editor’s Note: This article is reprintedfrom the National Institute of MentalHealth Web site accessed at www.nimh.nih.gov.

ReferenceScheffler RM, Brown TT, Fulton BD,Hinshaw SP, Levine P, Stone S. Positiveassociation between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication useand academic achievement duringelementary school. Pediatrics. 2009May. 123(5): 1273-1279.

ADHD Medication Treatment Associated with Higher AcademicPerformance in Elementary School

C


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lex is a wonderfully wittyand caring teenage boy wholives life every day with amental illness.

As early as 18 months, Inoticed some behavioral troubles withAlex. His meltdowns were not tantrumsand a timeout was impossible for himto grasp. As his mom, his only advocate,I was fortunate because our communityhad early intervention services forAlex. Call it mother’s intuition, but Iknew we needed those services and fast.

He began Head Start at age three.The program provided Alex with astructured setting where he would notbe kicked out because of his behavior.The program was staffed so that he gotone-on-one assistance. However, evenwith that, his behaviors were uncon-trollable. Alex would physically mani-fest his rage by hitting, biting, running,cussing, and causing pure chaos inhis classes. At age five, before kinder-garten, I tried in vain to get himqualified for special education.Unfortunately, our school systemdid not believe his testing and psycho-logical observations warranted accom-modations. And that is when Alex’sinvolvement with the juvenile justicesystem began.

Each day Alex shared his desire togo to school and be “normal.” That“normal” phrase made my stomachturn because it was such a challengefor him. After a brief honeymoonperiod in the beginning of each schoolterm, he would become uncontrollable,aggressive, and violent. He was sus-pended numerous times beginning inkindergarten. My parental frustrationswere not only over my fear and desireto get him services he needed, but thatthe learned behaviors of being senthome became another hurtle for us toovercome. When school sent himhome, he went to his Grandma’s house.He was not comfortable in school andgoing to Grandma’s house was a safezone. In retrospect, the funny part isthat I too often wished that I could goto Grandma’s house because it was a

place to cuddle up and be shieldedfrom the pain.

As his years in school progressed,Alex became much more acquaintedwith the local police department. It wasnot that the school overly relied onthem, but even with all the training theschool staff had and continued to try touse with Alex, he was sometimes stilloverpowering, assaultive, and harmfulto himself and others. Most times ourinteractions with law enforcementinvolved trying to calm Alex down andassess the situation. The police depart-ment proved to be supportive at criticaland high stress times.

As Alex got older, and his behaviorscrossed the line into punishable crimes,I began to feel like I was losing control.Fortunately, I got support for our familythrough NAMI education programs.These programs allowed me to learnmore about mental illness and to talkwith other families impacted by mentalillness. All the while though there wasstill this looming fear of the juvenilejustice system.

Our most serious interaction withlaw enforcement came in September2008. By this time Alex was 12 yearsold and bigger than I was. He had start-ed 7th grade on a positive note. On onecrisp Tuesday morning, we said ourgoodbyes and I love yous as I left forwork and he left for school. The schoolcalled about an hour after I got to workand said I needed to get there as soonas possible. I was out the door. When I

arrived at school, Alex was standingoutside the building with three schoolstaff and a police officer. He was manic,belligerent, and handcuffed. Alex wascharged with disturbing the peaceduring a wild hour of behaviors thatincluded running off campus, destroyingproperty, and assaulting others. Theofficer told me his charges and thatthe department would not allow anofficer to transport him to juvenile hall,an acute psychiatric hospital, or evento our home. It was my responsibility.At that point, she walked him tomy car, placed him in my front seat,removed the handcuffs, and shut thedoor. Alex continued to assault methat day, which allowed me to call lawenforcement to our home and theytransported him to a local mentalhealth center for medical observation.It was the 26th time we had been therein his short 12 years of life.

That day in September 2008 led tosome positive changes. Our local Chiefof Police implemented a new rulewithin the department that if thishappened again at the local schools,then law enforcement officers shouldcall an ambulance to transport thestudent. Clearly, this is far better forour kids than either being transportedin a patrol car or by parents while thecrisis is ongoing. A mental healthcrisis should be treated like an asthmaattack, seizure, or heart attack, withmedical care rather than a ride in apolice car.

I have fought hard and loud to getAlex the help he needs. Because of thisadvocacy, he is getting the medical,social, educational, and family therapieshe needs to do well. He is living lifewithout a judge, court system, or crim-inal charges. The charges filed againstAlex were dismissed because the countyattorney took time to understand hisdiagnoses, treatment plan, and level ofcare. It is wonderful that Alex wasgiven a second chance. We are on thisjourney together as a family. Hisactions that day in September, and atother times in his life, were wrong andhe needed help. However, withoutcriminal charges and court involve-ment, he has a much more promisingfuture.

AOur Journeyby Angie Thiel, Parent, Nebraska

Angie Thiel and Alex


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A New Beginning for Kennyby Tricia Baker, Kenny’s Mom, New Jersey

enneth Silas Baker, my son,was sweet, funny and lovedby all. Adults always com-mented to me that he wassuch a polite and kind teen.

He got along so well with his youngersister, Katelyn, that I used to brag tomy friends about how my childrenrarely argued. There was no one whodid not like Kenny Baker.

It was a train that ended Kenny’s lifeearly Tuesday morning, May 19, 2009,but what really killed him was hisillness. It was debilitating and, for him,as fatal as an illness like cancer orheart disease.

Kenny could always make otherslaugh despite the deep sadness withinhim. A good friend of his stated,“…being around him always meanta fun time. He was bound to dosomething spontaneous and silly thatbrightened my day. He was the lifeof the party, and lit up the room withhis smiles.”

At the age of 15, Kenny’s worldbegan to crumble. He was hospitalizedfor the first time with depression, laterhe was diagnosed with anxiety anddepression. From that time on, hislife was a continuous struggle.

If he had been diagnosed withcancer or heart disease, there wouldhave been an outpouring of supportfrom the community. Instead, thestigma attached to mental illness forcedKenny to hide his illness from theworld. As his mom, I could not beforthcoming as we privately struggledto get him the medical help he needed.

And how we did struggle. In mymind, I cannot help but run throughthe “what ifs,” the “should haves,” andthe “might have beens.” There is asense that the “system” failed my son.

After a hospitalization in 2006,Kenny was recommended to theValue Options Care ManagementOrganization (CMO), the highest levelof care offered by the county. However,due to lack of funding, he was passed

down to the lower levelof care, and within a fewmonths, his case wasclosed and we were lefton our own. By the timehis condition was critical,he finally came under thecare of the CMO; howev-er, because he had turned18 years of age, therewere absolutely noprograms for someonehis age.

The case manager satin my living room, only aweek before Kenny’s death andshrugged her shoulders. She couldoffer no help for our case. She sharedwith me, “if only Kenny had cometo the CMO sooner, we could havehelped him.”

The public high school continuallylet Kenny down. It is shocking howprofessional educators, within one ofthe best school systems in the state,have little understanding of and sensi-tivity toward those suffering frommental illness. It was easier for theschool to label Kenny as lazy, andme as a “helicopter mom,” than torecognize his illness. The final irony isthat the public high school principalwanted to cover over pictures of Kennyin the yearbook with stickers. Whilethe principal said that he would dothis only out of concern for us, as hisparents, we believe that he wanted toerase all memories of Kenny because ofhow he died. The stickers would erasenot only Kenny, but the reminder thatmental illness is everywhere, even in

his Blue Ribbon highschool.

Kenny was my son,my inspiration, and myteacher. For the last threeyears, I watched himsuffer from day-to-day,and admired him for hisstrength. Even though Icannot fully comprehendthe emotional and physi-cal pain he experienceddaily, I got glimpses ofhow much it truly hurtand how he stayed as

long as he could because he knew hewas loved. His strength is now myinspiration giving me strength to goon. Kenny reminded me that life isfleeting, a gift given to us just for ashort time. Kenny also taught me notto be quick to judge others, because wenever know the path they walk on.

I believe that Kenny’s passing hasalready had a positive impact on livesleft behind. I heard the high school,so closed-minded to Kenny’s situation,helped bring a struggling teen to thehospital the week after Kenny’s death.A good friend’s child who has beenhospitalized several times in the pasttwo months shared, “how many livesKenny’s death has affected has taughtme to see how many people care forme, it has influenced me to get better.”

We hope that sharing Kenny’s storyand being open about his struggles,will bring about acceptance and theelimination of stigma. Mental illness isan illness. A disease that needs a cure.It is not to be ignored or spoken of inhushed tones.

I believe that Kenny is finally atpeace, happy, and living in God’s care.He loved his family so much that hedealt with unbearable pain and stayedwith us for as long as he could. Kenny’stime on earth was too short, but hecast a bright, beautiful light thattouched so many lives. Everybodyloved Kenny and we will love himforever.

Kenny Baker

K

Kenny could always

make others laugh

despite the deep

sadness within him.


T H E Y O U T H V O I C E

Editor’s Note: On May 19, 2009, Kenny Baker lost his life to suicide. NAMI greatly appreciates the poems sharedby Katelyn Baker (Kenny’s sister), Pamela Goldberg (Kenny’s friend), and Anna LeProvost (Kenny’s girlfriend).They are a warm and loving tribute to his life.

My Belovedby Katelyn Baker, Age 15

My soul longs to be near you,It is something I can not fight,but no matter how far I climbNo matter how many times I cry,You are still just out of reach.Your presence gives me strength,in the weakest of times.Just please come out tonight,And all my pain will leave me,Forever.My beloved brother moon.

Kenny and Katelyn Baker

Comfortby Anna LeProvost, Age 17

Everything was scatterednothing was clearand there was anever ending darkness.

Out of nowherelight cascaded infrom every which way.At first it was blinding.It seemed almost to hurt.It became the warmth,the comfort that was never there.Slowly becoming moreand moreaccustomed to it.

A love that comesonce a lifetime.The support of a soulmatethe comfort of a partneralways by your side.

I’ll Never Understandby Pamela Goldberg, Age 16

I will never understand whyNo matter how hard I tryIt hurts me soTo see you go

I can not believe that you have moved onBut I know that you have goneUp to a better placeAlthough it is hard to face

I realize that you could not stayThat is why G-d took you awayYou are now an angel way up in the skyBut in our hearts you will always be nigh

Rest in peace, Kenneth Baker. You are greatly missed. We love you.

Pamela Goldberg

Kenny Baker and Anna LeProvost

Background: School Mental HealthStudents who struggle with moresignificant emotional and behavioralissues often benefit from a range ofsupportive strategies and interventionsin the classroom. These strategiesshould help your child feel morecomfortable in the classroom andreduce the likelihood that emotionaland behavioral problems will act asbarriers to learning.

While schools have been providingservices to promote positive studentbehavior and mental health for a longtime, in recent years there has been amove to expand these services toreflect a full continuum for improvingenvironments; broadly promotingstudent wellness, positive behavior,and mental health; and implementingprevention, early intervention, andtreatment programs and services forstudents in general and specialeducation.1 A key value for theseschool mental health programs andservices is that they reflect a sharedagenda involving school-family-community system partnerships inall aspects of program development,guidance, and ongoing improvement.

Positive Behavior SupportEfforts to promote student positivebehavior and mental health shouldideally proceed from a platform ofbroad strategies related to enhancementof the school environment toward anurturing, consistent, and positiveclimate that includes clear andfrequently reinforced positiveexpectations for student behavior.In this realm there are a number ofstrategies that are very helpful;including programs involving PositiveBehavior Support (PBS). The federal

Office of Special Education Programs(OSEP) supports a technical assistancecenter for PBS (www.pbis.org) thatincludes guidance for the promotionof positive behavior in the classroom.Positive behavior support strategiesare described as moving away fromaversive and punishment-basedinterventions toward preventive andpositive strategies, with key guidingprinciples that include the following:2

• Involve systemic and individualizedstrategies;

• Work for all students;• Provide common expectations

regarding positive behavior;• Focus on procedures and systems

that are evidence-based, or have ascience base of support, and thatcan be efficiently delivered;

• Focus on learning and behaviortogether; and

• Focus on climate in schools andclassrooms and teamwork andcollaboration with all staff learningand reinforcing skills.

Teachers and Strategies for theClassroomTeachers obviously play a critical rolein assuring positive classroom environ-ments, with many skills involved,including the following:3

• The way students are grouped orassigned seating (e.g., not havingdisruptive students sitting close toone another or in the back of theroom);

• How tasks are scheduled (e.g.,completing less preferred tasksbefore students can engage inmore preferred ones);

• The use of stimulating materialsand activities; and

• Matching communication anddirection to students in light oftheir presenting behavior.

The last point is a particularlyimportant theme for effective classroommanagement and the promotion ofpositive classroom behavior. That is,the ideal is for teachers to be proactivelyscanning the environment, noticinghow students are doing, praising themfor positive behavior, using humor andmaintaining a lively and fun environ-ment, and proactively and with empathyaddressing behavioral issues in studentsvery early on. In this regard, moststudents will show that they are begin-ning to have trouble, for example,by shifting in their seat or showingdiscomfort. An empathic and supportiveresponse provided to the studentone-on-one by walking over to themcan often disrupt the development ofnegative behavioral chains.

Research has demonstrated thatteacher and student behavior are inter-related and dependent. For example,teacher behavior affects studentbehavior, which affects teacher behavior.In general, classrooms function betterwhen teachers engage in a “highapproval” style, involving positive andconstructive feedback, than a “highdisapproval” style, which is morenegative and consequence driven.4

Other critical skills for educators topromote positive classroom behaviorinclude the following:5,6

• Implementing classroom rules thatare behaviorally specific and easy tofollow (versus subjective and hardto understand and enforce) andfostering student ownership of therules;


A S K T H E D O C T O R

Assuring Your Child Receives Supportfor Positive Behavior in the Classroomby Mark D. Weist, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Center for School Mental Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine

1 Weist, M.D., Evans, S.W., & Lever, N. (2003). Handbook of school mental health:Advancing practice and research. New York, NY: Springer.2 Sugai, G., Horner, R.H., Sailor, W., Dunlap, G., Eber, L., Lewis, T., Kinciad, D.,Scott, T., Barrett, S., Algozzine, R., Putnam, R., Massanari, C., & Nelson, M. (2005).School-wide positive behavior support: Implementers’ blueprint and self-assessment.Eugene, OR: University of Oregon.3 Gettinger, M., Stoiber, K.C. (2006). Functional assessment, collaboration, andevidence-based treatment: Analysis of a team approach for addressing challengingbehaviors in young children. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 231-252.

4 Polirstok, S., Gottlieb, J. (2006). The impact of positive behavior interventiontraining for teachers on referral rates for misbehavior, special education evaluationsand student reading achievement in elementary grades. International Journal ofBehavioral Consultation and Therapy, 2, 354-361.5 Lloyd, J.W., Forness, S.R., & Kavale, K.A. (1998). Some methods are more effectivethan others. Intervention in School and Clinic, 33, 195-200.6 Gottlieb, J.& Polirstok, S.R. (2005). A school-wide professional development pro-gram to reduce behavioral infractions and referrals to special education in three inner-city elementary schools. Children and Schools, 27(1), 53-57.

• Having teachers self-monitor theiruse of language and striving to usepositive and encouraging words orphrases versus negative or criticalones;

• Increasing positive statements andpraise to individual students, groupsof students, and the whole class;and

• Implementing simple systems forrewarding students for positivebehavior (e.g., end class a littleearly and allow talking time).

A critical skill for teachers is tomake requests of students in a way thatpromotes their compliance with theserequests. If this is handled well, positivebehavior is promoted, but if handledpoorly, behavior by students can quicklyget out of control. For example, if astudent does not comply with a requestand a teacher yells, the student may berewarded by this yelling (by attentionon him or laughter by his classmates),and may act out more in response.Instead, teachers should strive for acalm and business-like manner inmaking requests of students, involvingthe following steps:7

• Present the request in clear behavioralterms for one action at a time;

• State the time limit for starting torespond to the request;

• Provide contingent praise andpositive attention to students whocomply with a request on time;

• Withhold praise and attention ifthere is no compliance with a requestwithin the specified time;

• Provide gentle prompting andguidance, without praise orcomment, for compliance followingthe time limit; and

• Calmly implement disciplinaryconsequences if there is still nocompliance.

Resources and Relevant InitiativesAll of the above represents generalstrategies that should be implementedto promote positive behavior by allstudents in classrooms. Students whopresent more significant emotionaland behavioral challenges should alsoreceive tailored support and interven-

tion to assist them in addressing thesechallenges and to promote their posi-tive performance in school. Under thefederal Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Improvement Act (IDEA,most recently reauthorized in 2004),these services may be provided throughthe school system through placementin special education and receipt ofservices under an IndividualizedEducation Plan (IEP), or through thereceipt of special services as providedthrough 504 plans.

If your child does not have an IEPor 504 plan, and is experiencing emo-tional and/or behavioral concerns thatyou believe are impacting his or herability to succeed in the classroom,communicate with your child’s teachersand grade-level special education casemanagers regarding their behavior inthe classroom and possible strategiesand interventions. To learn more aboutpossible resources for your childrelated to emotional or behavioraldisabilities that impair learning, seethe Regional Resource and FederalCenters Network of the Office ofSpecial Education Programs (OSEP)at www.rrfcnetwork.org (click onTechnical Assistance and DisseminationNetwork).

Also, as reflected in the introductionto this article, schools are increasinglypartnering with families and communitymental health systems to expand therange of mental health promotion andintervention services available tostudents and their families. There arenumerous on-line resources, includingthose from:• The Center for School Mental

Health (CSMH) at the University ofMaryland at csmh.umaryland.eduand www.schoolmental health.org;

• The Center for Mental Health inSchools at the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles at www.schoolmentalhealth.org;

• The Center for the Advancementof Mental Health Practices inSchools at the University ofMissouri at www.education.missouri.edu/orgs/camhps; and

• The Center for School-Based MentalHealth Programs at Miami

University of Ohio at www.units.muohio.edu/csbmhp.

Further, the University of MarylandCSMH, in collaboration with the IDEAPartnership, funded by OSEP andhoused at the National Association ofState Directors of Special Education(www.nasdse.org), is building aNational Community of Practice onCollaborative School Behavioral Health.This community is promoting dialogueand collaboration on multiple dimen-sions of learning support and schoolmental health, and includes 12 statespursuing systematic school mentalhealth initiatives and 12 practicegroups pursuing the advancement oftraining, practice, research, and policyin key theme areas in the field. TheCommunity meets annually (with thenext meeting in Minneapolis, Nov. 2-4,2009), with ongoing learning andcollaborative work occurring throughan interactive Web site at www.sharedwork.org.

What You Can DoA critical theme associated with thequality and effectiveness of schoolmental health programs and servicesis active family involvement in allaspects—from being a collaboratorwith mental health providers and yourchild in his or her mental health careto helping to guide school mentalhealth programs and services at school,community, state, and national levels.The family voice should be heard. Ifyou sense obstacles to such involve-ment or that your voice is not beingheard, express your concerns to theschool principal and to leaders of yourcommunity’s child and adolescentmental health system. As you are ableto, get involved in program and policy-focused meetings pertaining to schooland child and adolescent mentalhealth.

Author’s Note: Appreciation isextended to Christianna Andrewsand Matthew Page of the CSMH fortheir help in conducting backgroundresearch for this article.


A S K T H E D O C T O R

7 Cipani, E. (1993). Non-compliance: Four strategies that work. Washington, D.C: The Council for Exceptional Children.


S T A T E N E W S

It Takes a Village…and Police Who CareYouth Focused Crisis InterventionTeam Trainingby Louise Pyers, M.S., Criminal Justice Project Director, NAMI Connecticut

amilies often do not knowwhere to turn when their childis exhibiting signs of mentalillness. Many children endup in the “school to prison

pipeline” due to symptoms of theirmental illness. Too often, schools usepolice as a tool to handle behavioralsituations that they do not understand.Law enforcement Crisis InterventionTeam (CIT) training focused on youthcan give police the knowledge theyneed to divert children from the juvenilejustice system to the help they need.The Memphis Model of CIT bringstogether all the necessary componentsto accomplish that goal. First, however,it is important to understand what CITis and how it works.

What Are the Goals of CIT?The developers of the CIT model,Major Sam Cochran, retired, MemphisPolice Department, and Dr. RandolphDupont of the University of Memphishave outlined the following goals:• To improve safety of officers and

persons with mental illness.• To redirect individuals with mental

illness from the judicial system tothe health care system.1

Core Elements of CIT—“More ThanJust Training”Ongoing elements• Partnerships with police, NAMI

members, hospitals, mental healthproviders, schools, child advocates,systems of care collaboratives, andother key stakeholders.

• Police and their communitypartners must take ownership andbe involved in planning andimplementation.

• Policies and procedures must bedeveloped and adopted.

Operational Elements• CIT officers, dispatchers, and CIT

coordinators.• Curriculum development and

training.• Emergency Service Providers—

emergency rooms, mental healthfacilities and crisis cliniciansmust be ready to provide a timelyresponse to police referrals.

Sustaining Elements• Evaluations and Research:

educational institutions can berecruited to evaluate the program’seffectiveness.

• Refresher courses for CIT officers.

• Events honoring or recognizingexemplary work in CIT—Officersshould know that their work doesnot go unnoticed.

• Outreach and information sharingwith other communities.2

For a more detailed explanation ofthese core elements, please visit thenational CIT Web site at www.cit.memphis.edu (click on CIT CoreElements).

Does Your Community Have CIT?Visit the national CIT web site to findout if your community has CIT. Askthe CIT coordinator to join you inefforts to expand CIT to help childrenin psychiatric crisis.

If your community does not have

F

1 Dupont, R., Cochran, S., & Pillsbury, S., Crisis Intervention Team Core Elements,University of Memphis School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, Department ofCriminology and Criminal Justice, CIT Center, p. 3

2 Dupont, R., Cochran, S., & Pillsbury, S., Crisis Intervention Team Core Elements,University of Memphis School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, Department ofCriminology and Criminal Justice, CIT Center, p. 3

Louise Pyers and police officers who care.

Ending the Silence—A NAMI DuPageSignature Programby Brenda Hilligoss, School Outreach Coordinator, NAMI DuPage, Illinois

CIT, you must first convince the policethat this program not only helps personswith mental illness, it also increasessafety for police. CIT gives them toolsto make their difficult jobs a little easier.

Find a Champion—Build BridgesA high ranking law enforcement officerwho is willing to “champion” CIT canhelp immensely when promoting CITto police departments. Attend aCitizen’s Police Academy if your policedepartment offers this. It will giveyou a better idea of police work, andincrease your understanding of policeculture. Many departments offer ride-alongs with police officers. Take advan-tage of this and go! Your interest inthem and the relationships you formwill go a long way toward making CIThappen. A CIT champion might emergefrom these efforts.

Make an appointment with theChief of your police department to

discuss CIT with him or her. NAMI’sweb site has a CIT toolkit that canprovide you with more information(www.nami.org/cit).

NAMI Basics and Parents and Teachersas AlliesThese programs can raise awarenessabout the need for CIT. NAMI Basicscan provide information about CIT toparents and caregivers. Parents andTeachers as Allies can also informteachers about CIT and how they canwork with families, police, and mentalhealth providers to improve the mentalhealth system while making theirclassrooms ideal learning environmentsfor children. Information on theseprograms can be found on the NAMIweb site.

In Connecticut, the CT Alliance toBenefit Law Enforcement (CABLE), theproviders of statewide CIT training, arecurrently working with school resourceofficers and others to fine tune and

expand CIT training on children’smental health. Training segmentsinclude: early-onset mental illness, thebiological basis of mental illness andother brain disorders, brain develop-ment in children and teens, stigma,family concerns, strategies to calmyouth in psychiatric crisis, signs oftrauma, assisting traumatized children,and resources for families and police.It continues to be a work in progress.

For more information on CITpromotion and outreach, contactLouise Pyers at [email protected] or [email protected] more information on the planning,implementation, and CIT curriculumdevelopment for youth, contactLieutenant Jeffry Murphy or OfficerKurt Gawrisch of the Chicago PoliceDepartment at 1 (312) 337-2853 or1 (312) 337-2856 or [email protected] or [email protected].

S T A T E N E W S

A F F I L I A T E N E W S

AMI DuPage is proud tointroduce Ending the Silence,a program designed forhigh school audiences andtypically presented in

freshman or sophomore health classesduring the mental health portion ofthe curriculum. The interactiveprogram teaches the basic signsand symptoms of mental illness inadolescents, presents personal storiesto reduce stigma, and providesresource materials for students.

At the beginning of the class period,students are asked to address a post-card that is sent home to their parentsto provide a full disclosure andoutreach to family members. Next,an informational and interactivePowerPoint presentation is presented,

along with the personal story of ayoung consumer. The last few minutesof the class are devoted to completingevaluations and Q&A. “Mood Pencils,”which have our contact informationimprinted on them and change color inthe holder’s hand are used as an incen-tive for students to ask questions. Theyare a huge hit with teenagers! Studentsare also given a business-size resourcecard and a brochure from the SubstanceAbuse and Mental Health ServicesAdministration (SAMHSA) called“What a Difference a Friend Makes.”

One indicator of the success of theprogram is that in less than two years,we are more than halfway to our goalof educating students in every schoolin our county. Several school districtshave been so impressed with Ending the

The business-sized resourcecard handed out to studentsduring Ending the Silencepresentations.

N


A Guide toSpecial EducationAdvocacy ~ WhatParents, Cliniciansand AdvocatesNeed to Knowby Matt Cohen, Esq.

List Price: $24.95Soft Cover: 302 pages (2009)

It is fitting during baseball seasonto say that Matt Cohen has hit it outof the park with this guide. It takesa truly gifted writer to translate theoften complex special educationlaws and regulations into practicalinformation that families can easilydigest and use.

This guide focuses on specialeducation topics for all students withdisabilities, however includes muchcontent specific to students withmental health needs. The guide quiteeffectively covers those issues thatmatter most to parents, includingspecial education eligibility, theevaluation process, the IEP, specialeducation and related services, theleast restrictive environment, behav-ior management and discipline,transition and graduation, IDEA vs.504, understanding the politics

behind special education, andmuch more.

Each chapter includes a summaryof the federal law and regulations ona variety of special education topics,and then translates it into practicalterms on what it means for studentswith disabilities. Matt Cohenincludes advocacy strategies ineach chapter of the book. Thesestrategies speak directly to familieswith practical step-by-step approacheson how to effectively advocate forappropriate services. This is exactlywhat families need most to helpsecure the right services for theirchild.

This book is a must read forfamilies and advocacy leaders. MattCohen hits a homerun with thisguide and clearly establishes whyhe has become a highly regardednational authority on special educa-tion law, advocacy strategies, andspecial education policy.


B O O K R E V I E W

Silence that they have provided financialsupport for the program. We havealso developed a strong and positiverelationship over the years with ourRegional Office of Education, whichsupports all of our programs, includingParents and Teachers as Allies (PTasA).Just as PTasA is the perfect educationaltool for school professionals, Endingthe Silence is a proven way to meetstudents’ needs to be educated onmental illness.

Another way we know our programis successful is the enthusiasticresponses we get from the students.Some have directed their parents toNAMI DuPage’s Parent Support Groupand Parent Education Class. We alsoconsistently receive overwhelminglypositive student evaluations.

After one of our presentations, wereceived a handwritten letter from ahigh school student that illustrated theimpact that Ending the Silence can have.The student wrote, “I would like tothank you for coming in and talking tomy school. Your program helped bettereducate me and it gave me the courageto talk to my parents about my brother.He has been seeing a ‘feelings doctor’and he is ten. I sadly do not think it isworking, so I sat my Mom down andtalked to her...She is going to take himto the doctor. Thank you for bettereducating me and giving me thecourage to speak up.” That says it all!

Ending the Silence is availablethrough NAMI DuPage for a small fee.To learn more about the program, visitwww.endingthesilence.org.

Brenda Hilligoss, Matt McNichols,Consumer Presenter, and Jim Bondi,Health Educator, after an Ending theSilence presentation at Hinsdale SouthHigh School in Darien, Illinois.

NAMI recently released a publicationtitled, Reinvesting in the Community:A Family Guide to Expanding Homeand Community-Based Mental Servicesand Supports, to inform familiesabout the importance of expandingthe array of home and community-based services and supports availableto children and youth with mentalillness and their families.

NAMI’s new family guide providesfamilies with a list of home andcommunity-based services andsupports and discusses model statesand communities that have embracedthese interventions as alternatives to

out-of-home placement. The guideoutlines how litigation, a desire toachieve better treatment outcomes,Medicaid expansion, and strongleadership have all played a role inthe successful expansion of homeand community-based services.

To download a copy of the familyguide, please visit NAMI’s Child andAdolescent Action Center’s Web siteat www.nami.org/caac. Sections ofthe guide are also available inSpanish. To order hard copies of thefamily guide, please contact BiancaRuffin, Program Assistant, at [email protected] or 1 (703) 516-0698.

Reinvesting in the Community: A Family Guide to Expanding Homeand Community-Based Mental Health Services and Supports


This publication is supported by McNeil Pediatrics Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. According toNAMI policy, acceptance of funds does not imply endorsement of any business practice or product.

Colonial Place Three2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300Arlington, VA 22201-3042(703) 524-7600 • www.nami.org

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPPCO24506

AMI has published a guide titled, SupportingSchools and Communities in Breaking the PrisonPipeline: A Guide to Emerging and PromisingCrisis Intervention Programsfor Youth, to help inform

advocates about existing crisisintervention programs for youth andhow they can promote and implementsuch programs in their states andcommunities.

The guide responds to concernsabout the alarming number of youthwith mental health treatment needswho continue to enter the juvenilejustice system. Schools in particularhave been a pipeline into the juvenilejustice system for many youth inAmerica. Crisis intervention programsfor youth promise to support schoolsand communities in helping to breakthis prison pipeline.

The guide highlights threecommunities that have adapted theadult Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model to develop crisisintervention programs for youth that can be used in schooland community settings. It provides an overview of the CIT

model and discusses the key components, benefits, andcosts associated with crisis intervention programs for youth.It also details the action steps that children’s mental health

advocates can take to effectively promoteand implement these programs for youthin their states and communities.

CIT is a dynamic collaboration of lawenforcement, community agencies andorganizations committed to ensuringthat individuals with mental illness arereferred to appropriate mental healthservices and supports rather than thrustinto the criminal justice system.

To download a copy of the guide,please visit NAMI’s Child and AdolescentAction Center (CAAC) at www.nami.org/caac or NAMI’s CIT Resource Centerat www.nami.org/cit. Advocacy factsheets are also available with the guide.

For more information about NAMI’swork on crisis intervention programs foryouth, please contact Dana Markey,Program Coordinator, CAAC, at

[email protected], or Laura Usher, CIT Coordinator, [email protected].

NAMI Releases Guide to Crisis Intervention Programs for Youth

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NAMI Beginnings - Summer 2009

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Transcript of NAMI Beginnings - Summer 2009