Category: Children's Mental Health Awareness

About Youth Court is a system that allows young people who have violated the law to be held accountable by their peers. Trained youth community volunteers act as advocates and judges using the restorative justice framework to create an agreement for all. Mission Youth MOVE Maine supports youth and adults in building the skills, partnerships, policies and practices essential to making sure all youth are connected, resilient, growing and included in the decisions that impact their lives. Description The Maine Youth Court is a system that allows young people who have violated the law or school rules to be held accountable by their peers through restorative justice practices. In the Maine Youth Court, youth community volunteers are highly trained and supported to act as advocates and judges in the process, diverting low-risk offenders from traditional punitive disciplinary systems. Youth Court is available for any youth from Portland to Bath who has committed a first time, non-violent offense. Three youth advocates and three peer judges are […]

Autism Society of Maine 1.800.273.5200 G.E.A.R. Parent Network and Family Support Partners Gaining Empowerment Allows Results for Maine parents of children with behavioral health needs 1.800.264.9224 Learning Disabilities Association of Maine 1.877.208.4029 Maine Parent Federation Statewide organization promoting individual aspirations for all people through information, education and advocacy 1.800.870.7746 National Alliance on Mental Illness of Maine 1.800.464.5767 Southern Maine Parent Awareness Helping families enhance the quality of life of their children and young adults with disabilities 1.800.564.9696 (in Maine only) Tri-County Network of Care One-stop resource for exploring physical and emotional wellness

May is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month and Maine continues to provide leadership on the subject of mental health and trauma.  James Yoe, PhD, Director of the Office of Quality Improvement for Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services and also the lead evaluator for the THRIVE Initiative’s original SAMHSA grant, provides a snapshot of THRIVE’s data and poses questions that every system of care should consider. “Trauma Exposure and Post Traumatic Stress Among THRIVE System of Care Participants”: one of a two part series highlighting the importance of creating a trauma-informed system of care. Published in the May 2013 Quality Improvement Snapshot report. Maine’s Office of Continuous Quality Improvement May 2013 QI Data Snapshot THRIVE

Children’s Mental Health Awareness Campaign Wins Bronze for Excellence in Community Communications & Outreach ORLANDO, FL – G.E.A.R. Parent Network and Youth MOVE Maine accepted the bronze award in the Children’s Mental Health Awareness Campaign category on behalf of collaborative partners Children’s Behavioral Health Services and THRIVE at the Excellence in Community Communications and Outreach recognition ceremony July 26. The awards are sponsored by the federal Substance and Mental Health Services Administration’s Caring for Every Child’s Mental Health Campaign. G.E.A.R. launched Maine’s monthlong award-winning 2011 campaign with its traditional Tailgate Kick-off for families, youth and child-serving health and human services providers in the parking lot of the Office of Child and Family Services. During the first two weeks of May, G.E.A.R.’s Family Advisory Councils for Empowerment Statewide distributed 140 toolkits to mental health agencies and other community-based, child-serving organizations from Caribou to South Portland. The kits contained a total of 35,000 children’s mental health awareness items. “We asked providers to share the contents with the families they serve,” said Carol Tiernan, G.E.A.R. Director. “The kits contained information on where to go for support groups […]

Vincent Felitti, M.D. co-principal investigator of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, addresses Maine Juvenile Corrections workers at a trauma-informed training conference. (Tsukroff photo) AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Corrections Division of Juvenile Services, in collaboration with its Juvenile Justice Advisory Group and Lewiston-based THRIVE, hosted  Dr. Vincent Felitti, M.D., co-principal investigator of the landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES)  and Karen Williams, MSSW, delinquency prevention consultant, at a trauma-informed staff training conference June 19-20. Ms. Williams used neuroscientific research and illustrations to present to over 100 juvenile community corrections officers and facilities workers, regional managers, family members, youth and community-based service representatives how traumatic stress impacts adolescent brain development and influences behavior, and how positive experiences can counter the negative stress effects into young adulthood. Dr. Felitti used data from the landmark ACES to detail the prevalance in the general population of persons with multiple trauma experiences and the stunning implications for physical and mental health across affected lifetimes. He also explained how identifying and addressing traumatic events has the potential to mitigate the astronomical costs to society associated with unidentified and unadressed multiple traumas. Arabella Perez, Executive Director, explained how the ACES had […]