Western Pennsylvania has experienced an epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse in the past 8-10 years. According to 2020 CDC data, Pennsylvania had the eighth-highest drug overdose mortality rate in the U.S. A consortium of the Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission (AICDAC) and nine partners created the Nurse Navigator and Recovery Specialist Outreach Program to […]
Hispanic or Latino
Innovative Intervention Addresses Youth Suicide Risk in the Juvenile Justice System
Youth involved with the juvenile justice system die by suicide at a rate two to three times higher than youth in the general population. The risk for suicide is greatest overall for young people on probation, which is the segment of the justice system that allows youth to remain in their community (versus being in […]
Behavioral Health Equity Challenge Winners Showcases
Earlier this year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) launched the “Behavioral Health Equity Challenge: Outreach and Engagement Strategies for Underserved Racial and Ethnic Communities.” Community-based organizations (CBOs) often serve on the front lines to address the needs of their community members. The goal of this challenge was to identify and highlight […]
Family-based Affect Management Intervention for System-Impacted Adolescents
System-impacted adolescents experience high rates of psychiatric, substance use, and sexual health treatment needs. Family-based interventions have been successful in improving these outcomes among system-impacted adolescents, and emotion dysregulation may be an important and understudied underlying construct of these co-occurring risk behaviors. Led by Marina Tolou-Shams, Ph.D. and funded by the National Institute on Drug […]
TRIBE Program: Turning Resilience Into Brilliance for Eternity
The Turning Resilience Into Brilliance for Eternity (TRIBE) Program is a prevention and early intervention program from Whole Systems Learning. TRIBE aims to prevent or intervene in the early onset of the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) for foster and adjudicated African American male youth and young adults, […]
Moving Beyond Change Efforts: Evidence and Action to Support and Affirm LGBTQI+ Youth
Like all youth, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex youth and other sexual- and gender-diverse children and adolescents (LGBTQI+ youth) deserve to grow up in supportive environments absent stigma and discrimination that allow them to thrive and achieve their human potential.When seeking behavioral health treatment (both mental health and substance use interventions), these […]