Family Involvement in PA’s Juvenile Justice System Monograph Available for Download or Order
The Family Involvement in PA’s Juvenile Justice System monograph is in print and downloadable here. Limited printed copies are also available upon request. To order your print copy, please complete the form below. Read More »
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Editor’s Note: Getting the Right Children’s Mental Health Services
Are children’s mental health services getting better? That depends! If you and your child benefit from the help you find, then yes. If things are not going well, it is likely that you are receiving services that are stuck in the past – using approaches that we now know don’t work. Read More »
Evidence-based Practices — Doing What Works
Evidence-based Practices are a fairly new idea. In the past, when a child did not get better, the child or family may be blamed. Starting in the 1990s, researchers were funded to investigate what helped children with serious emotional disorders. Read More »
Stories from Families — Lessons in Patience and Understanding
The following two stories from parents remind us how hard it is to parent children with challenging behaviors. The authors encourage families to have patience and understanding not only for their children, but for themselves. One is from 1996, the other 2010, and the stories remind us that parts of the family experience remain the same, even with the progress we have made in the last 14 years. Read More »
When Children Are Sent Away
The January 2010 edition of PA Children’s Newsletter looks at the practice of placing children with behavior problems in residential facilities. Pennsylvania has developed many community options for children and adolescents whose behaviors put them, their families, and their communities at risk. Read More »
PA Code Chapter 3800 — Child Residential and Day Treatment Facilities Regulations
Chapter 3800 protects the health, safety and well-being of children receiving care in child residential facilities, including specifying the child and family’s rights. While Chapter 3800 does not officially apply to the state-run juvenile justice facilities, the state uses the Chapter as formal guidance in the operation of said facilities. Read More »
Reporting Abuse in Residential Facilities
If families and their children have concerns about what is happening in a residential facility, they have many resources and options to resolve those concerns. Still, the Commonwealth admits that it may be harder for families and children to receive a fair review of abuse from an investigation when the investigators may be colleagues of the accused offender. Read More »
What Pennsylvania is Doing about Children’s Residential Treatment
Out of home placement is a poor choice for children. Children do best when living with their family and in their community. Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania and nationally, there are still not enough supports and programs to make that a possibility for all children. Read More »
What We Know About Children’s Residential Treatment
The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law developed a Fact Sheet that explains the problems with residential facilities. Specifically about Children’s Mental Health Residential Treatment Centers (RTC), the Fact Sheet has relevance when discussing all institutionalization of children. Read More »
PA Juvenile Justice Facility Ranks in Top Six for Sexual Victimization in National Survey
A new federal report finds what we already know – children experience unhealthy environments in residential placements. Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth, 2008 – 2009 reports on results from a survey of youth in juvenile justice facilities across the nation, including in Pennsylvania. The survey, the first such survey ever conducted for juvenile justice facilities in the nation, asked volunteer youth about their experiences with sexual victimization during placement. Read More »
About Us
The Children's News is a program of the Mental Health Association in Pennsylvania (MHAPA) and its affiliates across the state. We provide information for families on children's mental health issues in Pennsylvania – including advocacy efforts, events, and policies – and offer families the opportunity to share information on these issues with us.
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