School safety is a priority for parents and teachers as summer comes to an end.

While families and educators across the nation heal from the Uvalde, Texas school shooting effects, they simultaneously prepare to send youth back to the classroom after the summer break. The tragedy that occurred at Robb Elementary School was the 27th school shooting in 2022 and the deadliest since the one that took place in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary.

The United States has more children in a youth correctional facility than any other country in the world. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) states that about 60,000 adolescents under the age of 18 are incarcerated in juvenile jails and prisons on any given day.

Research shows that children who have spent time in facilities tend to exhibit physical and mental health concerns later in life and they are more likely to fall behind in school, which is an important component of staying out of the system.

Literacy and incarceration are two words that you don't often hear in the same sentence. When you read those terms, you might feel that they have nothing in common or that they are opposites. But here's what is interesting, despite what you may think, they are closely related and there are many reasons why. The Department of Justice states, "The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure."

Today we are sharing the story of a mother that lost hope for the change of her son who was using alcohol and drugs, selling substances, failing school, and was associating with known gang members—until her MST therapist provided effective guidance and support for the entire family.

Note: Names have been changed for confidentiality.

As a result of the many events that have occurred since 2020, and are still occurring, including juvenile and criminal justice reform, a mental health epidemic, the COVID-19 pandemic, opioid overdose surges, and ongoing unemployment, practices are being put into place in order to rebuild our communities.

During the school year, Sabine Polak received a call from the guidance counselor regarding her 14-year-old daughter. In addition to being depressed, her daughter had contemplated suicide. Sabine brought her daughter to a crisis center to address her pressing mental health concerns and soon found out that her daughter's intense anxiety was caused by social media. The main reason for her stress was waiting for her friends to respond on Snapchat.

Many of us have a love-hate relationship with technology. We have technology at the tip of our fingers; whether it is through a smartwatch, phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or TV - screens are available everywhere. One survey explains that 95 percent of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45 percent are online almost constantly. While there are many advantages to tech, young brains are also subject to serious side effects.

Vaping, the new way to smoke, is becoming increasingly popular among teens. It may be hard to believe, but electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were first introduced in 2007 and have since become a public health epidemic, contributing to youth substance abuse. The Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, VADM Jerome Adams, stated that “The recent surge in e-cigarette use among youth, which has been fueled by new types of e-cigarettes that have recently entered the market, is a cause for great concern. We must take action now to protect the health of our nation’s young people.”

Youth, families, and communities have overcome many challenges and achieved numerous victories since the beginning of this year and, during this time, the Child Protection, Juvenile Justice, and Mental Health systems have made strides in raising awareness of the needs of adolescents and their families. So, as we pause to look back on 2021, we would like to say thank you to the families, therapists, supervisors, agencies, and external stakeholders who made all of this possible. Join us as we highlight some of the work that the Multisystemic Therapy (MST) community has accomplished.

From 2012 onwards, the number of American children entering foster care has been steadily climbing; in 2016, over 430,000 children were part of the child welfare system, yet over half of U.S. states have seen their foster care capacity decrease during this same time period. The federal government has typically responded to child welfare challenges by increasing funding for foster care, yet in February of 2018, policymakers took a different approach: instead of lending more resources to the system in the historical way, new legislation is focused on the use of evidence-based prevention services to alleviate the need for adolescents to enter out-of-home placements in the first place, and ensuring appropriate settings are used for kids who are in foster care when necessary.