YES! - YOUTH EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES FOR ALL
Working With Youth Who Have Mental Health Problems

Searching for Recognition

One in five children and adolescents experiences symptoms of mental disorders. One in 10 suffers from disorders resulting in a significant impairment. Half of lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14.

As startling as these statistics may be, most surprising is that only one in five youth who need mental health care actually receives it.

Your agency may serve adolescents struggling to cope with homelessness, exposure to domestic violence, parental abuse or neglect, substance abuse, and poverty. Whatever types of service you provide, the goal of helping youth transition into healthy, responsible adults requires that you recognize mental health as a critical factor in the lives of the youth you serve.

Tips for working with youth who have mental health problems:

• Remember that mental health disorders include addictive disorders, and that many youth have more than one.
  
• Screen for mental health problems as well as substance abuse at intake, and assess clients' mental health disorders and substance use regularly.
  
• Form links between your agency and treatment centers, counselors, and mental health clinics.
  
• Include clients and their families (when appropriate) in decisions about mental health care.
  
• Make youth comfortable seeking and getting help for mental health problems by including easily accessible materials about the subject in your agency's library.
  
• Consider requiring mental health counseling for all youth you serve.
  
• Arrange mental health trainings for your staff on a regular basis to help them identify and know what to do for youth with mental health problems.
  
• Train staff to recognize and respond to signs of mood disorders that could lead to suicide.
  
• Recognize cultural issues related to mental health. For example, youth of color may be less likely to seek mental health services than white youth.
  
• Include easy-to-follow information on your 24-hour agency hotline about where young people and their family members can get help for mental health crises and drug treatment.

Resources

Print
Fighting the Monster: Teens Write About Confronting Emotional Challenges and Getting Help. Editor: A. Desetta. 2004. Available from Youth Communication, 224 W. 29th Street, New York, NY 10001; (212) 279-0708; www.youthcomm.org.

The High That Couldn't Last: Teens Write About Drugs. Author: Youth Communication. 2004. Available from Youth Communication.

I'm Not Crazy: A Teen Guide to Getting Mental Health Help. Author: Youth Communication. 2004. Available from Youth Communication.

Overboard. Online comic strip series on addictions written by teens. First installment 1998. Available at Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home Companion Piece, www.pbs.org/wnet/closetohome/.

When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens. Author: B. Cobain. 1998. Available at Free Spirit Publishing, Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 616, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1724; (612) 338-2068; www.freespirit.com.

Web
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
www.aacap.org

American Psychological Association (APA)
www.apa.org

National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH)
www.nimh.nih.gov

National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
www.nmha.org

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
www.samhsa.gov

Working With Youth Who Have Mental Health Problems was developed by the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY) for the Family and Youth Services Bureau; Administration on Children, Youth and Families; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information on positive ways to work with youth, please go to ncfy.acf.hhs.gov, or contact NCFY at (301) 608-8098 or ncfy@acf.hhs.gov.