Exploring perceptions of implementation practice capacity in community-based behavioral health organizations.

Community-based organizations (CBOs) must have the capacity to adopt, implement, and sustain evidence-based practices (EBPs). However, limited research exists examining CBOs' ability/capacity to implement EBPs. The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate how staff of CBOs perceive implementation practice capacity, determine factors needed for adequate capacity for implementing EBPs, and examine which perspectives of capacity are shared across organizational levels. Ninety-seven administrators and practitioners of CBOs were surveyed using the Implementation Capacity Survey, which examines perceived importance, presence, and organizational capacity of the CBO in nine implementation practice areas (IPAs) (e.g., leadership). Results revealed participants rated IPAs on the importance scale higher than IPAs on the present scale. Presence and organizational capacity scales were strongly correlated, and results showed significant differences between administrators and practitioners on ratings of presence and organizational capacity. Implications for future research aimed at examining/building implementation practice capacity in community settings will be discussed.

Evaluation of the SPARK Child Mentoring Program: A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum for Elementary School Students.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs seek to enhance social and emotional competencies in children, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. By means of direct instruction regarding social and emotional competencies, SEL programs have the potential to strengthen resilience in children and thus their capacity to effectively cope with life's challenges. Strengthening resilience in children who are repeatedly exposed to adverse experiences, particularly those from economically disadvantaged minority backgrounds, is of particular importance and has implications for the prevention of a multitude of problems later in life. Our study reports the result of an investigation of the SPARK Child Mentoring program, a resilience-focused SEL program designed to reduce risk factors, uncover innate resilience, promote natural emotional well-being, and facilitate school success. We employed a randomized controlled trial comprising 94 elementary school students that included pre- and post-intervention measurements. After controlling for pre-intervention levels, we found a significant difference between students' understanding of underlying program principles; communication, decision making, and problem-solving skills; emotional regulation; and resilience for students who received the intervention compared to students who did not receive the intervention. These results provide initial evidence for the efficacy of the SPARK Child Mentoring program with a diverse sample of elementary school students and adds to the existing literature base concerning positive outcomes associated with SEL programs. We discuss implications for future research focused on long-term preventive effects of the program and the characteristics of students most likely to benefit from it.

Measuring Activation in Parents of Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

For parents of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders, activation, or having the knowledge, skills, and confidence to access and engage in appropriate services for their children, is important for managing their child's mental health care. The Parent Activation Measure (PAM) was modified to create the Parent Patient Activation Measure-Mental Health (P-PAM-MH) to measure activation as part of a randomized controlled trial of a peer parent support intervention for parents of youth with emotional and behavioral problems. Results from this study provide initial support for use of the P-PAM-MH as a measure of activation in this population and for the reliability and validity of the measure. Implications of the findings from this study for research and practice in behavioral health are discussed.

National Survey of State Children's Mental Health Directors: Current Status and Future Directions.

State agencies play a critical role in addressing the mental health needs of children and youth. Significant changes underway throughout the nation at the federal and state levels have led to questions about the role of state children's mental health (CMH) agencies and the effects of these changes on children's services. The purpose of this study was to examine the current status of state offices for CMH with regard to structure and responsibilities and to identify what state CMH directors express as opportunities and challenges for CMH at the state level. CMH directors or their representatives from 46 states, 1 US territory, and D.C. completed an online survey developed to address the specific aims of this study. Findings highlight the importance of a strong state structure to support CMH and opportunities for reform and system change, particularly related to the Affordable Care Act and expansion of Systems of Care.

Supporting parents who have youth with emotional disturbances through a parent-to-parent support program: a proof of concept study using random assignment.

Poor outcomes for youth who have emotional disturbances (ED), especially for those youth who are placed in special education programs, are well documented. Parent Connectors is a parent-to-parent support program delivered through weekly telephone calls to families of youth with ED in special education programs, with the aim of increasing the engagement of parents in their child's education and treatment and improving the academic and emotional functioning of the child. Findings from a proof of concept study using random assignment of participants yielded encouraging support for the clinical efficacy of the intervention. Results demonstrated enhanced outcomes for parents who were highly strained at the beginning of the study. Implications for future research in the area of parent support are provided.

Mood disorders in children and adolescents.

Childhood mood disorders such as major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder have been found to be highly prevalent among children and adolescents. The emotional and behavioral dysfunction associated with these mood disorders can cause impairments across areas of functioning, including academic and social arenas. This article reviews the course, possible causes, assessment, and treatment of this group of disorders in youth and concludes by examining the implications for nurses and other health care providers of youth with mood disorders.

Community participation in the treatment development process using community development teams.

Little literature exists about methods for adapting research-based treatments to typical practice settings. This report describes a 2-step process and associated methods used to adapt a school-based treatment program for middle-school youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that operates in a controlled setting to one that can operate in a typical practice setting. Step 1 included a feasibility study that yielded important findings regarding potential obstacles to successful implementation. These data, along with original treatment manuals and literature on treatments for youth with ADHD, were utilized for Step 2--the Community Development Team (CDT) process. Data collected about the CDT process indicate that its strengths outweigh potential limitations. These methods are discussed in the context of successful collaborative procedures for developing and evaluating research-based treatments in practice settings.