Following are links to many of the premiere organizations and agencies that focus on children's mental health issues. CWLA is not affiliated with these organizations.
Administration for Children and Families
ACF is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services responsible for federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities. ACF oversees and finances a range of activities in partnership with state, local, and tribal agencies. Oversees the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists
AACAP distributes information to promote an understanding of mental illnesses and remove the stigma associated with them, advance efforts in prevention of mental illnesses, and ensure proper treatment and access to services for children and adolescents.
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association is a medical specialty society recognized worldwide. Its member physicians work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorder, including mental retardation and substance-related disorders.
American Psychological Association
APA advances psychology as a science and profession and as a means of promoting health and human welfare.
American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry
ASAP is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of mental health disorders in adolescents and young adults and to the provision of optimal health care of patients. ASAP provides continuing medical education programs for physicians, primarily psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals.
Annie E. Casey Foundation
The foundation's primary mission is to foster public policies, human service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families.
Anxiety Disorders Association of America
ADAA is the only national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to informing the public, health care professionals, and legislators that anxiety disorders are real, serious, and treatable. ADAA promotes the early diagnosis, treatment, and cure of anxiety disorders and is committed to improving the lives of the people who suffer from them.
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization based on the principle that every individual is entitled to choice and dignity.
Caring for Every Child's Mental Health Campaign
A public information and education campaign of the Center for Mental Health Services. CMHS provides technical assistance to grantees through the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program. A variety of social marketing materials and guidance are available.
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice
CECP supports and promotes a reoriented national preparedness to foster the development and the adjustment of children with or at risk of developing serious emotional disturbance. CECP is dedicated to collaboration at the federal, state, and local levels to contribute to and facilitate the production, exchange, and use of knowledge about effective practices.
Center For Effective Collaboration and Practice: Strategic Partners
The center's strategic partners include national organizations, associations, and clearinghouses that work with the center to identify information needs, develop and disseminate products to address those needs, promote collaboration, and provide access to their memberships.
Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior
An organization funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs to raise awareness and implementation of positive, evidence-based practices and to build an enhanced, more accessible database to support those practices.
Center for Health Care Strategies
A nonprofit, policy resource center that promotes quality health care services for low-income populations and people with chronic illnesses and disabilities.
Center for School Mental Health Assistance
CSMHA provides technical assistance and guidance to promote positive mental health in children, adolescents, and families, and supports schools and communities in the development of school-based mental health services.
Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
Develops and disseminates evidence-based, user-friendly information to help early childhood educators meet the needs of the growing number of children with challenging behaviors and mental health challenges in child care and Head Start programs.
Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
CABF educates families, professionals, and the public about early-onset bipolar disorders, supports families to maximize the well-being of the child while minimizing the adverse impact of bipolar disorders on the family, and advocates for increased services to families and research on the nature, causes, and treatment of bipolar disorders in the young.
Child Trends
Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the lives of children by conducting research and providing science-based information to improve the decisions, programs, and policies that affect children. Child Trends collects and analyzes data; conducts, synthesizes, and disseminates research; designs and evaluates programs; and develops and tests promising approaches to research in the field.
Children's Health Council
CHC strives to make a measurable difference in the lives of children who face severe or complex behavioral and developmental challenges by providing interdisciplinary educational, assessment, and treatment services and professional training.
Compeer
A national not-for-profit organization that matches community volunteers in supportive friendships with children and adults receiving mental health treatment.
Depression-Screening.org
Sponsored by the National Mental Health Association, Depresion-Screening.org educates people about clinical depression, offers a confidential way for people to get screened for symptoms of the illness, and guides people toward appropriate professional help if necessary.
Division of Early Childhood
A division of the Council for Exceptional Children, DEC is an international membership organization for individuals who work with or in behalf of children with special needs, birth through age 8, and their families.
Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health
A national parent-run non-profit organization focused on the needs of children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders and their families.
Foster Family-based Treatment Association
Committed to enhancing the lives of children with families through strengthening family-based organizations, FFTA is an agency-led organization of treatment foster care providers established in 1988 with an initial purpose of defining and refining treatment foster care practices.
Gateway to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Information
A gateway to four nonprofit sites that offer information on post-traumatic stress disorder and resources, such as with articles, references, web links, minicourses, 800 telephone access, and e-mail pen-pal resources.
Gift from Within
A nonprofit organization dedicated to those who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, those at risk for PTSD, and those who care for traumatized individuals. The organization develops and disseminates educational material, including videotapes, articles, books, and other resources, and maintains a roster of survivors who are willing to participate in an international network of peer support.
Inside the Teenage Brain
Sponsored by PBS's Frontline, this website explores how new discoveries can change the way we parent, teach, or perhaps even understand our teenagers.
International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions
IACAPAP promotes the study, treatment, care, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders and deficiencies of children, adolescents, and their families. The emphasis is on practice and research through effective collaboration among child psychiatrists and allied professions of psychology, social work, pediatrics, public health, nursing, education, social sciences, and other relevant professions.
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute
Founded in 1967 at the University of South Florida, the institute works to strengthen mental health services throughout Florida, providing research, training, education, technical assistance, and support services to mental health professionals and agencies, consumers and consumer organizations, and behavioral health advocates statewide. The institute operates the Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health.
Madison Institute of Medicine
MIM is committed to conceptualizing, developing, and disseminating innovative approaches to the education of professionals and the public about medical disorders and their treatment. An additional focus is clinical research as a vehicle to advance the frontiers of medicine and improve quality of life.
Medscape
Offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the Web's most robust, integrated medical information and education tools.
Mental Health Liaison Group
Provides its members with the opportunity to exchange political intelligence, form cooperative advocacy efforts, coordinate strategies, and discuss public policy issues related to mental health.
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
NAMI is a nonprofit, grassroots, self-help, support and advocacy organization of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders
National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
NARSAD is a private, not-for-profit organization that raises and distributes funds for scientific research into the causes, cures, treatments, and prevention of severe psychiatric brain disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression.
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
ANAD is the oldest national nonprofit organization helping eating disorder victims and their families. In addition to its free hotline counseling, ANAD operates an international network of support groups for sufferers and families and offers referrals to health care professionals who treat eating disorders, across the United States and in 15 other countries.
National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems
NAPHS represents delivery systems working to coordinate a full spectrum of treatment services, including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and outpatient programs, as well as prevention and management services.
National Association of School Psychologists
NASP promotes educationally and psychologically healthy environments for all children and youth by implementing research-based, effective programs that prevent problems, enhance independence, and promote optimal learning.
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
NASMHPD is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the needs of the nation's public mental health system through policy development, information dissemination, and technical assistance.
NASMHPD Research Institute
NRI studies issues in the delivery of public mental health services supported by state mental health agencies. NRI responds to current needs for objective analyses and basic information and attempts to facilitate the application of state mental health programs.
National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
Promotes awareness of the mental health needs of youth in the juvenile justice system and assists the field in developing improved policies and practices based on the best available research and practice.
National Center for Children Exposed to Violence
NCCEV is a multifaceted organization dedicated to finding solutions to the complex issues that face children, families, and communities exposed to violence.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network
This congressional initiative recognizes the profound, destructive, and widespread impact of trauma on American children's lives. Its purpose is to improve the quality, effectiveness, provision, and availability of therapeutic services delivered to all children and adolescents experiencing traumatic events. The network develops and disseminates effective, evidence-based treatments; collects data for systematic study; and helps educate professionals and the public about the effects of trauma on children.
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
A nonprofit trade association serving the education, advocacy and networking needs of more than 800 community providers of mental health and addiction treatment services.
National Mental Health Association
NMHA is the country's oldest and largest nonprofit organization addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness. NMHA works to improve the mental health of all Americans, especially those individuals with mental disorders, through advocacy, education, research, and service.
National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse
The clearinghouse handles inquiries concerning the needs of the consumer/survivor movement, including locating local groups and getting involved in the self-help movement.
New Hampshire-Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center
A public-academic liaison involving the New Hampshire Division of Behavioral Health and the Dartmouth Medical School. Initial research in New Hampshire focused on integrating case management and substance abuse services, and on integrating vocational and mental health services.
New York City Voices: A Consumer Journal for Mental Health Advocacy
A journal where mental health consumers, ex-patients and survivors, family members, and professional helpers can let their voices be heard, providing mutual support for living the most empowered, independent lives possible.
Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation
OCF educates the public and professional communities about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders; provides assistance to individuals with OCD and related disorders, their families, and friends; and supports research into the causes of and effective treatments for OCD and related disorders.
Promising Practices Network
PPN highlights programs and practices that credible research indicates are effective in improving outcomes for children, youth, and families. The information offered is organized around three major areas: Proven and Promising Programs, Research in Brief, and Strengthening Service Delivery.
Regional Intervention Program
Serving families with young children since 1969, RIP is an internationally recognized parent-implemented program in which parents learn to work directly with their own children. Experienced RIP parents provide training and support to newly enrolled families. The program is available to families with concerns regarding a young child's behavior, and is coordinated by a professional resource staff person.
Report of the Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental Health: A National Action Agenda
The Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental Health: Developing a National Action Agenda was held in Washington, DC, in 2000. The conference enlisted the help of 300 invited participants, representing a broad cross-section of mental health stakeholders, in developing specific recommendations for a national agenda on children's mental health.
Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health
Located at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, the center promotes effective community-based, culturally competent, family-centered services for families and their children who are, or may be affected by, mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. This goal is accomplished through collaborative research partnerships with family members, service providers, policymakers, and other concerned persons.
Safer Child
Dedicated to providing parents, caregivers, and educators worldwide with the resources and information they need to help all children grow up healthy, safe, and happy.
Search Institute
An independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization whose mission is to advance the well-being of adolescents and children by generating knowledge and promoting its application.
Society for Adolescent Medicine
A multidisciplinary organization of professionals committed to improving the physical and psychosocial health and well-being of all adolescents.
University of Maryland School of Nursing
Ranked among the top 10 nursing schools by U.S. News and World Report. World renowned faculty prepare students for tomorrow's careers, extend the boundaries of knowledge through advanced research, and seek answers to society's most pressing problems and applications for its most promising technologies.
World Federation for Mental Health
An international nonprofit organization established to advance the prevention of mental and emotional disorders, the proper treatment and care of those with such disorders, and the promotion of mental health.
Wyoming Adolescent Health Program
Supports Wyoming's Youth Improvement Plan by funding and partnering with various state agencies and youth task forces (such as Youth Suicide Prevention and Unintended Pregnancy Prevention), funds seed grants and technical assistance to community-based positive youth development initiatives, and helps the state Department of Education to promote the Coordinated School Health program in Wyoming schools.
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