From left to right are participants from the booster hosted by Chris 180: TaShara Jones, Gregory Ware (on the TV), Michelle Miller, Veronica Mayfield, and McKinsley Demarcus.

Throughout the year, we highlight individuals in the MST community that demonstrate outstanding and meritorious service to help youth and their families around the world. Even through challenging times, MST Services can count on our network of professionals to continue inspiring and transforming lives.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, students around the globe have participated in virtual learning, hybrid courses, and smaller in-person classes. As a result, adolescents are facing worrisome effects from these abnormal school settings. However, after a long year, many school districts are reopening this autumn.

On any given night in the United States, around 41,000 unaccompanied youth and young adults ages 12-25 experience homelessness, along with an estimated 4.2 million young people every year. Many factors lead to adolescents facing this growing issue.

Multisystemic Therapy - Prevention (MST-PRV) was designed in response to the unique needs of the NYC child welfare system, the Administration for Children's Services (ACS). MST Services, the purveyor of Multisystemic Therapy and its adaptations, identified the need for a service delivery that could both target challenging behaviors by the youth, while also reducing the risk of abuse or maltreatment.

Summer is here, and teenagers have a break from academic responsibilities—allowing them to have more time on their hands. During these months, the majority of adolescents have less structure and supervision and it is not a time to ignore the actions of youth illegal activity. While the overall juvenile arrest rates are decreasing, the number of teens who get in trouble with the law each summer remains high.

When a gang leader uses his influence for the good of his child

This is a story about a father. Mind you, not your typical Father’s Day story. This is about a man who knew his influence and used it to change the direction of his son’s life. It’s about a therapist who understood the importance of fathers, and who had the insight and willingness to do “whatever it takes” to change the life of a kid, a kid that most people thought was a lost cause. 

Truth be told, there are a number of barriers to mental health services in rural communities throughout the United States. The question is, why?

Today we want to highlight two Multisystemic Therapy clinicians that have changed career paths to better serve youth and their families in Virginia. 

The state of Virginia spends more than $170,000 to incarcerate one youth a year and in 2019 there were 58,234 children reported as victims of abuse or neglect. Because Multisystemic Therapy has such a positive effect on youth and families, several organizations in Virginia dedicated to empowering communities have helped grow the presence of MST programs. One of those organizations is the National Counseling Group, which provides mental, behavioral, and substance use services. They have offered Multisystemic Therapy since 2017 and have five teams for Court Service Units in several districts.

Every year around 250,000 U.S. children are placed in the foster care system. However, 2020 was a year like no other. So, where does the system stand?

Louisiana added Multisystemic Therapy (MST) to drug courts. This is why.

29% of high-school students reported drinking alcohol, and 22% said they used marijuana in 2019. However, studies show that due to COVID-19, young adults with mental health issues are more likely to report an increase in drinking; during the pandemic, the percentage of students who used alcohol rose to 30.4%. Using and abusing drugs as a minor has been shown to contribute to academic difficulties, mental-health problems, negative peer relationships, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. We know that adolescents are hard-wired to take risks. Thus, many teens will experiment with drugs and alcohol, and will not grow to abuse these substances. But what can be done to help those who escalate from experimentation to misuse, abuse or a substance misuse disorder?