Family Service Rochester’s Post

Each year on May 7th, the U.S. recognizes National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. This day gives our country the opportunity to shine light on children and youth who are impacted by mental health challenges. The theme for 2024 is "Lighting the Path to Social Justice for Children and Youth.” What is social justice? Social justice is - in a nutshell - ensuring that all members of a community feel safe and accepted. It means creating an equitable environment by addressing systemic inequalities and injustices based on factors such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Evidence shows that children living in impoverished communities are at greater risk of developing mental health disorders later in life. It can be difficult for high-risk children to get the help they need due to negative stigma and limited healthcare access in their community. Additionally, a lack of awareness can prevent caregivers from recognizing the first signs of mental health issues in children, or may underestimate their severity. When we see young patients in our clinic, we ensure that we provide a safe space for them to express their emotions and concerns, and give them appropriate support and treatment tailored to their needs. This day should inspire all of us to not only raise awareness, but emphasize the importance of acceptance of mental health challenges in children. With acceptance comes more advocacy and action to change attitudes, behaviors, and systems. Acceptance is a crucial first step on the path to social justice for children and youth. Make sure you are frequently checking in on the kids in your community and reminding others to do the same! Disclaimer: You may want to consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical professional. This page is not meant to give you medical advice as it does not replace a provider client relationship. #children #childrenmentalhealth #childrenmentalhealthawareness #childrenmentalhealthmatters

In a recent Op-Ed for The Well News, Seattle Children's CEO and CHA’s Board Chair, Jeff Sperring, MD, discusses the current state of the youth mental health crisis, the needed policy solutions and Congressional investments to support the pediatric mental health infrastructure. “If we invest in pipelines that encourage science and how it can lead to treatments and solutions around behavioral health, we will be following our children’s lead in better understanding mental health, studying it, and being a part of solutions that can help people of all ages find relief.” Read his Op-Ed: https://lnkd.in/eqxexmrN

In the 2021 Nevada Youth Risk Behavior Survey findings, found on Nevada Tomorrow, states that a staggering 46.1% of high school students in Nevada were found to endure persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, for more than two weeks at a time. These numbers underscore the urgent need for comprehensive support systems, including mental health resources, counseling services, and community programs, to help our youth navigate these difficult emotions. Ensuring that teens have access to the support they need is crucial for fostering a healthier, more hopeful future for all. The Children's Cabinet offers a range of free family counseling services where their therapists address a number of concerns and work with parents and their children to strengthen relationships, improve communication, and tackle challenges together. For further insights into crucial data points like these, visit Nevada Tomorrow. [LINK] https://lnkd.in/d4ShAaK

At CDI, every day we see the transformation in children and their families when they receive the support they need and the tools to sustain healthier lives. The data from our evidence-informed programs clearly demonstrate the positive impact of improved mental health on educational and health outcomes, and on diversion from the criminal justice system. As part of our provincial pre-budget submission, we put forward the following recommendations: • Increase access to evidence-based, trauma-informed children’s mental health and crime prevention programs like Stop Now And Plan® (SNAP), especially in remote communities. • Implement a province-wide risk-need assessment to identify where and for whom immediate support is needed. • Ensure fair compensation for our hard-working, dedicated professionals in the early learning, child care and community-based mental health sectors. CDI believes that investment in children’s mental health today is an investment in the future of all Ontarians.

To celebrate National University mental health day, last Thursday members of the ALAS team took to Central Saint Martins for a collaborative project with UAL short courses with workshops surrounding creativity and care. The two workshops took place in a safe space where students and staff were invited in to question how their creativity can be a radical act of care. With 10 creative pledges to choose from such as: Bring compassion to the center by engaging in and celebrating small local acts of everyday creativity Promote and define creativity as an act of care, over and above financial profit and individual entrepreneurship. Enable children and adults to experience the power of their own creativity. People left their reflection for each pledge through text, drawings, graphs or individual conversations with the team. The creative and care pledge workshop challenged people to think outside themselves and see their individual creativity as an act of great care that can inspire, empower and create safety for others. How does your creativity create care?

This is an important step for Care Quality Commission in clarifying the position on restrictive interventions. Often organisations get lost in equating restrictive interventions purely with restraint. Of course, it is essential that we reduce restraint and seclusion in services, it is also essential that we reduce restrictions in every aspect of supporting vulnerable people. on our training we focus on the reduction of restrictive interventions across the board, not just on reducing restraint. #restrictiveinterventions #cqc #positivebehavioursupport

Completely agree on CQCs stance however this comes currently with huge challenges for leaders including releasing precious staff resource to be trained properly, a scandalous over reliance on e-learning and leaders who cannot see overcoming these barriers as a necessary and worthwhile investment in time, money and energy. As an outstanding care provider (600 staff) who has never used agency staff, who owns both a care and training company the results in investing vs reward is huge. Commissioning does need to change though which not only rewards results but also helps fund investment into embedding such cultures into an organisation as currently those who stump up the raw capital to make it happen are currently ‘rewarded’ with lower care hours which is fine when you are growing but are deadly once growth slows. Despite this I can prove this investment leads to a reduction in restraint, injury, retention, voids and to commissioners significant savings to a lifetime budget. I will suggest it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how to unlock it. Come on commissioners be bold - I even have the data to prove it if you need to take it to your treasuries.

Next Monday, join a webinar with the NC Department of Health and Human Services Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disability, and Substance Use Services (NC DMH/DD/SUS) to learn about policies and programs that affect the MH/IDD/SU/TBI community. The goal of this webinar is to bring everyone together in one (virtual) place. This group includes consumers, families, advisory groups, LME/MCOs, community members, and partner organizations. Side by side, people will work together to better understand and improve our system. We will listen closely to one another, and we will share ideas for public policy that will improve lives in NC. January's topic: Behavioral Health Workforce - Peer Support and Direct Support Professionals. Date/Time: Monday, January 8, 2023, 2:00-3:00 pm Register for the webinar at the link below: Image: Collage of images depicting groups of people of various ages and abilities interacting together.

CHA applauds Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Rep. John Joyce (R-Penn.), and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-M.D.) for their bipartisan leadership in introducing EARLY Minds Act, to improve access to mental health prevention and early intervention services for children and teens. "Proactive early intervention and prevention can dramatically change the trajectory of a child’s life by addressing mental health issues before they escalate. The EARLY Minds Act gives states greater flexibility to make resources available for early detection and prevention services like mental health screenings, educational support for parents, and interventions for children facing behavioral health challenges," said Matthew Cook, CEO, Children's Hospital Association. The EARLY Minds Act will allow states to use a portion of their Mental Health Block Grant Funds to support the upstream mental and behavioral health services children and families need. It will also require Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to create a report on which states opt-in, how they use these funds, demographics of those served, and whether outcomes such as reducing delays in access to care improved. Press release: https://lnkd.in/dBePuTRH

After many years of working in this area I still get conversations which start: "We don't use restraint but" ... or "We are getting this behaviour so we need restraint training" .... At which point the conversation always has to go back to first principles. #healthcare #SocialCare #RestraintReduction #RestrictivePractice