The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development is offering Training Institutes on local systems of care for children and adolescents with or at risk for mental health challenges and their families. The biennial Training Institutes are organized in partnership with the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch of the federal Center for Mental Health Services. Additional support for the 2008 Training Institutes is being provided by The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The intent of the Institutes is to provide in-depth, practical information on how to develop, operate, and sustain systems of care and how to provide high-quality, effective clinical interventions and supports within them. Systems of care emphasize community-based care, comprehensive and individualized services and supports, services provided within the least restrictive environment, full participation of families and youth, coordination among child-serving agencies and programs, and cultural and linguistic competence.

The Institutes are designed for a variety of individuals including state and local policy makers, administrators, planners, providers, clinicians, care managers, families, youth, advocates, managed care organizations, educators, researchers, evaluators, students, and others concerned with improving services for children and families. Individuals representing local mental health and other child-serving agencies, including education, child welfare, health, juvenile justice, early childhood, and substance abuse systems, together with families and youth, are encouraged to attend, as well as state-level partners from all of these sectors. Opportunities will be provided for networking among state and local stakeholders.

The 2008 Institutes will focus on three "new directions" to strengthen systems of care and improve outcomes. Research and experience have clearly demonstrated that children with mental health needs are found in many systems-health, education, child welfare, juvenile justice, early childhood, substance abuse, and developmental disabilities. As a result, efforts to improve systems of care for children with mental health needs and their families have emphasized the need for collaboration and partnerships across service sectors. While there are many promising system and service interventions, the creation of partnerships between mental health and other child-serving systems is an area that warrants great attention. Accordingly, the 2008 Training Institutes will focus on the strategies and skills needed to strengthen partnerships in three specific areas to improve outcomes for children and youth with mental health needs and their families. Each will comprise a distinct "track" at the Institutes.

Track 1: Implementing a Public Health Approach

The extent, severity, and far-reaching consequences of mental health problems in children and adolescents make it imperative that our nation adopt a systematic, public health approach to improving the mental health status of children. A public health approach broadens the vision for children's mental health to one in which communities provide access to comprehensive services and supports for children with mental health disorders and their families, while at the same time striving to create conditions that promote positive mental health and emotional well-being for all children and prevent the onset of emotional problems. Sessions will focus on strategies for: 1) enhancing health by promoting optimal mental health, 2) prevention by addressing risk factors in vulnerable groups, 3) early recognition and intervention by identifying problems at an earlier stage and increasing access to effective treatment, and 4) treatment and rehabilitation by intervening to reduce symptoms and improve functioning and quality of life.

Track 2: Partnering With Schools

The mission of schools is to educate all students, and, in order to ensure academic achievement, schools have identified the need to attend to the health and emotional well-being of their students. Recognizing that children receive more services through
schools than through any other public system, strengthening mental health services in schools offers a strategic opportunity to provide prevention and intervention services to many children. Partnerships between mental health and education systems can provide a natural entry point and a promising vehicle for recognizing the mental health needs of youth and increasing access to effective services and supports.
Sessions will focus on a continuum of school-based interventions, including:
1) interventions targeted to the general school population that promote social and emotional well-being,
2) interventions aimed at youth who are at risk for developing mental health disorders, and 3) interventions targeted to youth who meet the diagnostic criteria for mental health disorders.

Track 3: Partnering With Child Welfare

The child welfare system is designed to serve children who are experiencing or are at risk for child abuse or neglect and their families and caregivers, with the goals of ensuring safety, permanency, and well-being. Children in the child welfare system are at high risk for health, mental health, and developmental problems. Strong linkages between mental health and child welfare systems are critical for addressing the emotional well-being of children involved with the child welfare system, as well as for meeting the mental health needs of their families. Sessions will focus on strategies for: 1) systematic assessment procedures to identify behavioral health problems, 2) early intervention and treatment services for children at risk of being removed from their homes, 3) treatment, support services, and care coordination for children with identified behavioral health needs, 4) services and supports for families, kinship care providers, and other community caregivers to prevent unnecessary placement disruptions and placement in institutional care, 5) services to support family reunification, adoption, and postadoption adjustment, and 6) strategies for partnering with families
and caregivers.

The faculty for the Training Institutes is comprised of representatives from communities that have made substantial progress toward developing systems of care and state-of-the-art clinical interventions and supports, as well as national experts. Participants select from an extensive program of Institute and Workshop sessions geared to provide practical, hands-on training and strategies that can be applied in their own communities:

• Institutes are three-and-a-halfhour training sessions that offer an integrated training experience focusing on an aspect of system of care development or service delivery, providing strategies and examples of effective approaches. Institutes are intended to provide practical "how to" training.
• Workshops are one-and-a-half-hour sessions that focus on a wide range of issues related to system development or service delivery and offer a variety of approaches and strategies that participants can apply.

Please note that seating is limited in all sessions and that attendance at any particular session is on a first-come, first-served basis. All Institute and Workshop sessions will be repeated to maximize access for participants in the sessions of their choice.

The Institutes program also includes two General Sessions that will focus on the new directions that comprise the themes of the 2008 Institutes.
The Opening Session on Thursday, July 17 will include two segments, the first segment highlighting Implementing a Public Health Approach to Children's Mental Health and the second segment addressing Partnering with Schools. A second General Session on Friday, July 18 will focus on Partnering with Child Welfare. A Poster Session on Friday, July 18 will offer another opportunity to learn about a wide range of promising strategies and approaches related to system development and service delivery through displays and discussion in an informal setting.

Special Forums will take place on Wednesday, July 16 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM and are designed as interactive discussions that will result in recommendations for future policy and technical assistance. The Institutes will conclude with a choice of Targeted Institutes on Sunday, July 20 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM that will provide intensive training in areas that are critical for systems of care. Attendance at a Targeted Institute is included in the Institutes registration fee.

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