Welcome to "In the Loop"

In this issue

• Register Now for 2006 Blueprints Conference - SPACE IS LIMITED
• MST in the News
• Announcements from MST Services and MST Institute
• News Briefs from Family Services Research Center at MUSC
• New Publications and Resources
• MST Community Updates and Announcements

Register Now for 2006 Blueprints Conference

Space is limited for the 2006 Blueprints Conference and registration numbers indicate a full house. Register today to guarantee your attendance for the MST pre-conference on Monday, March 13 and the main Blueprints Conference on March 14 and 15. Visit www.blueprintsconference.com for details!

MST in The News

Connect with Kids has produced a 30-minute segment about an MST family. Connect with Kids is a company that produces programs with one focus - improving the lives of children and along the way, helping parents become better parents. Their half-hour specials are shown on 70 top, local television stations across the country, reaching 65 percent of U.S. households. We wanted to bring this to your attention in case you receive any questions arising from the story. To view the video, visit www.connectwithkids.com.

A special thanks to Alesia Brooks and the MST team at Community Solutions Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia for their contribution to this project.

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MST was featured in a Wall Street Journal article titled "A Pragmatic Approach for Troubled Kids" on November 1, 2005.
Read the article

Announcements from MST Services and MST Institute

MST Services would like to welcome MST Associates as its newest Network Partner organization. MST Associates is based out of Columbia, Missouri and led by Chuck Borduin.

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Everyone at MST Services would like to wish Loren Deal all the best as she embarks on her new adventure with the Peace Corps. Loren will be leaving for Kiribati (an island between Hawaii and Australia) in March, where she will train primary education I-Kiribati teachers how to teach in English. Thanks Loren for your dedication to the MST community and best wishes as you help further the mission of the Peace Corps - helping the people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women and helping to promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served. Over the past seven years, Loren has worked as Keller Strother's executive assistant.

To learn more about the Republic of Kiribati, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiribati. Send your messages to Loren at peaceinthepacific@gmail.com.

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Kristen Crigler has joined the MST Institute as a Web specialist and data analyst. She will be supporting the Basic and Enhanced Web sites, by responding to all help desk requests and managing Web site maintenance, enhancements and projects. In addition, she is assisting Molly Brunk with report requests, data analysis and other technical projects. Prior to joining MST Institute Kristen was manager of Web operations for Graduate Management Admission Council and a freelance Web developer. Kristen can be reached at kristen.crigler@mstinstitute.org.

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MST Services plans to develop a Medicaid Standards Library. This online resource will be available on the MST Services Web site complete with comments regarding the extent to which each standard is consistent with the MST evidence base, and can thereby be considered an "evidence-based" standard.

News Briefs from Family Services Research Center at MUSC

Cunningham part of Helping America's Youth initiative

The following is an editorial piece written by Phillippe Cunningham, PhD
Family Services Research Center at MUSC

"During his 2005 State of the Union address, President Bush asked First Lady Laura Bush to lead a nation-wide initiative called "Helping America's Youth." This initiative is designed to help at-risk children and teens reach their full potential by connecting them with family, school and community. Read entire article

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More on Helping America's Youth
FIRST LADY STRESSES EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAMS, HUMAN RESOURCES FOR PREVENTING DELINQUENCY

First Lady Laura Bush says the United States is at a critical point for improving care and guidance for children, and the White House's Helping America's Youth Initiative offers guidelines for helping community groups do it.

"The federal government can help make your community coalition effective," Mrs. Bush says at the opening of the Justice Dept.'s Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention's first national conference this week in Washington.

The help is in a guide available online at www.helpingamericasyouth.gov. It offers more than 180 evidence-based programs for preventing and stopping juvenile delinquency, including alcohol and drug abuse. Mrs. Bush says some 80 community coalitions have registered to use the site's inventory and planning tool to help develop their programs.

But preventing juvenile delinquency begins with the people of a community, the first lady adds. "Anyone who can have a positive impact on a child's life should be part of a community coalition," she says.

Look for more on the first lady's comments and other information from the conference in the next issue of SAF, which will be published Jan. 13. Also, access information on the juvenile justice system and other substance abuse and mental health programs on SAF's Web site (www.saf.cdpublications.com), user name "saf" and password "resource".

New Publications

The following MST-related publications are available:

• 270 Henggeler, S.W., Halliday-Boykins, C.A., Cunningham, P.B., Randall, J., Shapiro, S.B., Chapman, J.E., (In press). Juvenile drug court: enhancing outcomes by integrating evidence-based treatments. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
  
  
• 278 Ellis, D. A., Naar-King, S., Frey, M., Templin, T., Rowland, M.D., Cakan, N. (2005). Multisystemic treatment of poorly controlled type 1 diabetes: Effects on medical resource utilization. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 30(8), 656-666.
  
  
• 279 Saldana, L., Swenson, C.C., Letourneau, E.J. (2006). Multisystemic therapy with juveniles who sexually abuse. In R.E. Longo & D.S. Prescott (Eds.), Current perspectives: Working with sexually aggressive youth and youth with sexual behavior problems. (pp. 277-296). NEARI Press: Holyoke, MA
  
  
• 280 Henggeler, S. W., Sheidow, A. J., & Lee, T. (in press). Multisystemic treatment (MST) of serious clinical problems in youths and their families. In A. R. Roberts & D. W. Springer (Eds.), Forensic social work in juvenile and criminal justice settings: An evidence-based handbook (3rd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
• 281 Sheidow, A. J., & Henggeler, S. W. (in press). Multisystemic Therapy with Substance Using Adolescents: A Synthesis of the Research. In N. Jainchill (Ed.), Understanding and Treating Adolescent Substance Use Disorders. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute.

To request a copy, or for more information, click here

MST Community Updates & Announcements

Welcome New MST Teams
Teams added between 9/1/05 and 12/31/05

Ostersunds	Sweden	1
Omnivision - Knoxville	Tennessee	1
Department of Public Health	California	2
Children's Village - Westchester	New York	1
Options	Oregon	1
Applewood	Ohio	1
Clark County	Ohio	1
TriCounty MHC	Maine	2
Savio House	Colorado	1
Community Alternative	Missouri	2
Youthdale	Canada	1
Kinark	Canada	1
The Hague	Netherlands	1

David Bernstein, director of the Human Services Department's newly renamed Center for Effective Interventions (formerly the MST Support Services Office), has been asked by Colorado's Rep. Tom Plant, chair of the legislature's Joint Budget Committee (JBC), to participate in the Colorado Innovations Fund, after Bernstein made a presentation to the JBC on evidence-based practice in the mental health field. Read the full article.

The Center for Innovative Practices has been selected as a finalist in the Innovations in American Government Awards/Kennedy School of Government/Harvard University. Final awards are announced in the Spring, of which there will be six. Learn more about the Innovation in Government awards by going to: http://www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu/Ash/

Has someone recently joined your team or been promoted? If so, share your news with the MST community. Send your news to intheloop@mstservices.com.