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?

Telehealth was once used as a solution to reach rural communities, underserved populations, and clients in secured facilities such as prisons, but it has now become a normality in the healthcare industry. Due to the global pandemic in 2020, healthcare systems had to quickly overcome barriers brought on by the inability to provide face-to-face services; our education, justice, and housing systems all had to do the same. Despite these unprecedented challenges, telehealth has developed a new, possibly more efficient, way to provide services to all individuals in need.

Picture a juvenile detention center. You might envision long hallways filled with cells that house justice-involved adolescents, a dull colored cafeteria, or barbed wire fences. Now picture 625 of those in the United States. These types of centers normally replicate an adult prison with limited resources. According to Prison Policy Initiative, two-thirds of confined youth are held in the most restrictive facilities, the juvenile justice versions of jails and prisons. Although the majority of these youth are detained in detention centers, there are many other forms of facilities typically hidden by euphemisms that proliferate the system.

As 2020 comes to an end, we would like to celebrate our MST clinicians, supervisors, program leaders, experts, and Network Partner Directors and the youth, families, and communities they served. Like many other organizations around the world, MST Services had to transition to a virtual environment due to the pandemic. Despite the many challenges our clinicians faced, they were still able to transform the lives of vulnerable populations through telehealth methodologies and we want to extend a thank you.

2020, unlike past years, has proven to be a difficult year for all ages. Similar to the pandemic the world is facing, the epidemic of substance abuse among teens is not slowing down. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) explains prescription medications, along with other drugs, are one of the fastest-growing substance abuse problems within the United States specifically affecting the lives of teenagers. Moreover, countries around the world have seen a similar trend – 35 million people globally suffered from drug misuse in 2019. The more adults and adolescents understand the signs and dangers of using, the bigger the chance of reducing the problem within communities.

Thanksgiving is often a time of reflection and gratitude in one’s life. Today we want to share an update from a Norway Multisystemic Therapy Expert, Ingvild Stjernen Tisløv, about providing MST services during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Being responsible for a home-based service in child welfare during COVID-19 has been a balancing act between ethical dilemmas, legal constraints and pragmatism. The experience so far is that if we are to crack the virus and at the same time safeguard the most vulnerable in society, we must have an approach where the client – not the fear – is in the driver's seat.