High Time

As a follow-up to his piece with Jeffrey Henig in Education Week on school-focused solutions, Paul Reville writes that the data from Massachusetts after two decades of reform make it clear that schooling solutions alone won't get all students to proficiency. We must create a healthy platform in the lives of children if we expect gains, he says. Reville profiles Massachusetts's efforts in that direction. In January 2010, the Achievement Gap Act required the state's lowest-performing schools to explicitly address in their turnaround plans the health and social-emotional well-being of students, whether through counselors or community engagement specialists to connect students and families with supportive services. In a related move, the state Secretary of Health and Human Services announced low-performing schools would receive a liaison to connect school, students, and families to the health and human service agencies. Governor Deval Patrick established a council of the secretaries of Housing and Economic Development, Labor and Workforce Development, Public Safety and Security, Administration and Finance, and the Child Advocate, which is now working to build communication and information-sharing networks to foster interagency collaboration. Finally, three Massachusetts partnerships received planning grants from the U.S. Department of Education for Promise Neighborhoods. In Reville's view, it's high time we recognized the importance of wraparound services, and worked to solve the out-of-school threats to achieving our educational aspirations.  Read more.

Mental Illness Leading Cause of Disability in Youth 

Mental health problems such as depression account for nearly half of all disability among young people between the ages of 10 and 24, according to a new study from the World Health Organization (WHO). Researchers looked at data from 191 countries and estimated the number of years of good health lost to disability resulting from disease and injury (known as disability-adjusted life years). Among adolescents and young adults, 45 percent of disability was related to depression, bipolar illness, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders, including alcohol abuse.  Dr. John S. Santelli, M.D., a professor of population and family health at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, in New York City, says that, fortunately, mental health issues at the root of a young person's disability generally respond to prevention, early detection, and treatment. "There's much better behavioral treatments, there's much better pharmacological treatments as well," says Santelli, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study, which was published in the journal The Lancet. "We know what to do. We just need to do it."  Read more.

Study Shows Sharp Rise in Early Autism Diagnoses    

One in 129 children in Massachusetts born between 2001 and 2005 was enrolled in early intervention programs for an autism spectrum disorder by their third birthday, according to the study. Over the five-year period, the proportion of children aged 3 and younger getting treated rose from one in 178 among children born in 2001 to one in 108 for those born in 2005 - a 66% increase. Much of the increase in diagnosis occurred among boys, which increased by 72% from 2001 to 2005, compared to about 39% among girls, the investigators found. The study authors said they aren't sure if the reason for the rise is because greater awareness and better availability of services means kids are getting diagnosed and into treatment sooner, or if autism itself is becoming more common. "We are showing an increase in diagnoses in autism, and there are multiple things that could be contributing to that," said study author Dr. Susan Manning, who was a maternal and child health epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health at the time the research was conducted.  Click here to continue.

National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) Research & Development Competition

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) FY 2012 Research and Development Center Competition announces a research and development competition. 

Topics include: 

1.    Interventions for Families of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders;

2.    Interventions for Families of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders;

3.    School-Based Interventions for Secondary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders; and

4.    Reading Instruction for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students;

For more information about these funding opportunities, please see the Request for Applications (RFA) and contact the appropriate program officer listed.

CVS: Caremark Community Grants  

The CVS Caremark Community Grants Program is currently accepting proposals for programs targeting children with disabilities that address: health and rehabilitation services; a greater level of inclusion in student activities and extracurricular programs; opportunities or facilities that give greater access to physical movement and play; provision to uninsured individuals with needed care, in particular programs where the care received is of higher quality and delivered by providers who participate in accountable community health care programs. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: nonprofit organizations. Deadline: October 31, 2011.   Learn more.

Nominations Invited for Mario Savio Young Activist Award 

A cash prize of $6,000 will be given to a social change activist between the ages of 16 and 26 who is working within an organization or community effort to promote peace, human rights, economic or social justice, or freedom of speech.  Deadline: June 30, 2011.  For more click here.

Captain Planet Foundation: Grants for the Environment  

The Captain Planet Foundation funds hands-on environmental projects that encourage innovative programs that empower children and youth around the world to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods and communities. Maximum award: $2,500. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations. Deadline: June 30, 2011.  For more information, click here.