Clarice Kestenbaurn, M.D.
President-Elect, AACAP
In view of the recent outbreak of school violence, it is obvious that mental illness in some of our children and adolescents is not being adequately addressed. Many clinically based studies have evaluated the correlates of antisocial and violent behavior. Where better to evaluate individual, family and social risk factors than in the schools, where children spend half of their waking hours? Once problems are identified, medical, educational and social interventions can be made available which have proven to be effective in reducing the incidence of youth violence.
With this in mind, I am happy to announce my personal agenda as incoming President of the AACAP, namely, on-site mental health services in schools. The Academy's Work Group on Schools under the dedicated chairmanship of Graeme Hanson, M.D., has been actively involved in developing new models of care for schools that value community based programs and provide comprehensive services, psychiatric screening, evaluation, collaborative treatment planning, parent and teacher education, training and curriculum development.
I want to emphasize early intervention with a major focus on primary prevention. The Work Group is currently collecting and evaluating many successful school-based mental health programs, such as those in New Mexico, Texas, California and New York, to name a few.
More than 2,000 of our members (more than one-third) are already involved in some form of school consultation.
I hope that soon we will double the number of school-based mental health teams (currently more than 950) and that many more child and adolescent psychiatrists will become involved in school consultation and program implementation. There is no better setting than schools to hone one's clinical skills. The gratification one receives from such work is well worth the effort.
President-Elect, AACAP
In view of the recent outbreak of school violence, it is obvious that mental illness in some of our children and adolescents is not being adequately addressed. Many clinically based studies have evaluated the correlates of antisocial and violent behavior. Where better to evaluate individual, family and social risk factors than in the schools, where children spend half of their waking hours? Once problems are identified, medical, educational and social interventions can be made available which have proven to be effective in reducing the incidence of youth violence.
With this in mind, I am happy to announce my personal agenda as incoming President of the AACAP, namely, on-site mental health services in schools. The Academy's Work Group on Schools under the dedicated chairmanship of Graeme Hanson, M.D., has been actively involved in developing new models of care for schools that value community based programs and provide comprehensive services, psychiatric screening, evaluation, collaborative treatment planning, parent and teacher education, training and curriculum development.
I want to emphasize early intervention with a major focus on primary prevention. The Work Group is currently collecting and evaluating many successful school-based mental health programs, such as those in New Mexico, Texas, California and New York, to name a few.
More than 2,000 of our members (more than one-third) are already involved in some form of school consultation.
I hope that soon we will double the number of school-based mental health teams (currently more than 950) and that many more child and adolescent psychiatrists will become involved in school consultation and program implementation. There is no better setting than schools to hone one's clinical skills. The gratification one receives from such work is well worth the effort.
