Panel

to bring the best available evidence and expertise to bear on the types of systemic challenges that cannot currently be addressed by single interventions or programs. Authors of practice guides seldom conduct the types of systematic literature searches that are the backbone of a meta-analysis, although they take advantage of such work when it is already published. Instead, authors use their expertise to identify the most important research with respect to their recommendations, augmented by a search of recent publications to ensure that research citations are up-to-date. Unique to IES-sponsored practice guides is that they are subjected to rigorous external peer review through the same office that is responsible for independent review of other IES publications. A critical task for peer reviewers of a practice guide is to determine whether the evidence cited in support of particular recommendations is up-to-date and that studies of similar or better quality that point in a different direction have not been ignored. Because practice guides depend on the expertise of their authors and their group decisionmaking, the content of a practice guide is not and should not be viewed as a set of recommendations that in every case depend

A Framework for Measurement Feedback to Improve Decision-Making in Mental Health

The authors present a multi-level framework for conceptualizing and designing measurement systems to improve decision-making in the treatment and prevention of child and adolescent mental health problems as well as the promotion of well-being. Also included is a description of the recommended drivers of the development and refinement of these measurement systems and the importance of the architecture upon which these measurement systems are built. The authors conclude with a set of recommendations for the next steps for the field

Short Term Involuntary Psychiatric Examination of Children in Florida

This study describes the use of emergency mental health services by children over a 4-year period. Analysis of a statewide database revealed 51,861 or 15% of all involuntary examinations were conducted on children. These youth were on average a little over 14 years of age and law enforcement officials initiated the majority of examinations. The majority of examinations were initiated due to the children demonstrating harmful behaviors to themselves or others. One-fifth of the children (21%) experienced more than one examination over the 4-year period. Areas of future research on this topic are discussed. The implications of the nature of examinations and patterns of repeated examinations are discussed

Evaluating Active Parental Consent Procedures for School Programming: Addressing the Sensitive Topic of Suicide Prevention

Background: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents. Whereas school-based prevention programs are effective, obtaining active consent for youth participation in public health programming concerning sensitive topics is challenging. We explored several active consent procedures for improving participation rates. Methods: Five active consent methods (in-person, students taking forms home, mailing, mailing preceded by primers, mailing followed by reminder calls) were compared against passive consent procedures to evaluate recruitment success, as determined by participation (proportion who responded yes) and response (proportion who returned any response) rates. Results: Participation acceptance rates ranged from 38 to 100% depending on consent method implemented. Compared with passive consent, active consent procedures were more variable in response and participation rates. In-person methods provided higher rates than less interpersonal methods, such as mailing or students taking consents home. Mailed primers before or reminder calls after consent forms were mailed increased response but not participation rates. Students taking consents home resulted in the lowest rates. Conclusions: Although passive consent produces the highest student participation, these methods are not always appropriate for programs addressing sensitive topics in schools. In-person active consent procedures may be the best option when prioritizing balance between parental awareness and successful student recruitment

Closing the Achievement Gap of Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

It is well documented that youth with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) have severe deficits in their academic functioning. To begin to address these deficits, we focus on the need to close the opportunity gap by providing access to multi-tiered systems of academic prevention, maximizing academic learning time, and providing explicit instruction for youth with E/BD. We offer recommended positive behavior interventions and supports necessary to improve engagement in instruction. Closing the achievement gap using multi-tiered academic supports requires best practices for universal screening and diagnostic assessment to understand youth academic needs. We detail the key elements of explicit instruction directly linked to improved academic performance. We conclude with alterable instruction factors for intensifying instruction and emphasize the need for intensive language instruction for the majority of youth with E/BD

Assessing the Wraparound Process During Family Planning Meetings

Research and evaluation of the wraparound process has typically focused on outcomes, service providers, and costs. While many of these studies describe a process that is consistent with the wraparound approach, few studies have reported attempts to monitor or measure the treatment fidelity of the wraparound process. The purpose of this study was to assess the fidelity of the wraparound process in a community-based system of care using the Wraparound Observation Form-Second Version. Results from 112 family planning meetings indicated some strengths and weaknesses within the current system. Families and professionals were frequently involved in the planning and implementation of the wraparound process. However, informal supports and natural family supports were not present in a majority of the meetings. Given the significant number of youth served in wraparound programs, the benefits of using the Wraparound Observation Form-Second Version as an instrument to monitor the fidelity of the wraparound approach should not be ignored

Engaging Families: A Pilot Evaluation To Examine The Utility Of A Health Promotional Resource On Youth Suicide Prevention

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth. It’s Time to Talk about It: A Family Guide for Youth Suicide Prevention is a consumer-driven, easy to read educational print resource to guide families in efforts to prevent suicide. This study utilized a retrospective, cross-sectional survey design to evaluate if this recently developed health promotion written resource increased perceived knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and intentions to engage in suicide prevention activities. Ninety community members participated in the study. After reading the guide, participants felt significantly more knowledgeable and had significantly greater intentions to participate in suicide prevention activities. Additionally, 71% of participants reported positive attitudes due to the guide, 80% reported feeling confident in their ability to help an at-risk youth, and, overall, 94% reported that the guide was a helpful resource. The results suggest that this family guide has potential to prepare families to be the first line of defense in helping to identify and connect at-risk youths to sources of help

Multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the System of Care Implementation Survey (SOCIS)

A major impediment to obtaining national information on systems of care implementation has been the lack of a psychometrically sound large-scale survey instrument. The present study provided information on the factorial and concurrent validity of the Systems of Care Implementation Survey scales. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel regression analysis were used to test these indicators of internal and external validity. Two hundred twenty-five counties were randomly selected and stratified by population size and poverty level. Nine hundred ten informants responded to the survey questionnaire, M = 4.04 informants per county (SD = 3.17). Results indicated that all models had at least adequate fit to the data, with nine of the 14 factor models having excellent fit. Overall, 11 of the 14 factors had some indication that receiving federal funding to create systems of care was associated with higher scores on the factors. Implications for future research were discussed