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.

With the world facing many challenges from the 2020 pandemic, the education sector of society comes to mind as one of the biggest overnight transformations. Covid-19 has disrupted the school system in a variety of ways in order to contain the spread of the virus. 87% of the world’s student population has been affected by school closures. Now, educational institutions have transitioned from traditional learning to remote learning or hybrid class settings through phases. This has created an array of obstacles for many children and their families.

Over the past few decades, the United States’ primary solution for juvenile offenders has been incarceration, or in other words, placement in juvenile correction facilities. However, after many studies, this way of holding troubled youth accountable for their actions may not be the best option for all. The National Conference of State Legislatures states, “Detention that follows arrest of a young person and pending disposition of the case has not only been shown to have negative consequences for some youths, it often is costly and unwarranted for public safety.” Although incarceration is necessary for some juveniles, alternative options can be just as effective, if not more.

With October being the month of Mental Health Awareness Day, it is important to know the effects that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on juveniles’ mental health. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that between April through June, younger adults reported disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, increased substance use, and elevated suicidal ideation, than the same time period in 2019. 

Home should be a safe haven for many during this pandemic, but for some children it can be a place of fear. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many life-threatening consequences, including a drop in child abuse reports with many states reporting a drop of as much as 50%. While this may seem like good news, some experts fear it does not necessarily mean that fewer kids are at risk, but that the people required to report suspected abuse have less contact with children. Other experts, however, believe that this fear is premature and overblown. 

Today we are sharing the story of a Multisystemic Therapy Supervisor, Melissa McGreal, in New York City during the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

There is no debating that the number of young people in the United States who have been exposed to traumatic events is far too high. Although estimates vary, it is believed that the prevalence of such events in the general youth population is substantial. According to the World Health Organization, one in four adults report having been abused as a child. For youth involved with the juvenile justice system, exposure to traumatic events is believed to be higher than that of community samples of similarly aged kids. An article from the American Psychological Association states that, of these youth, 70-90 percent have experienced one or more types of trauma. 

Nestled on the border between Ohio and Kentucky sits the Ohio River Juvenile Correctional Facility, a high-security juvenile prison where Donald, sixteen years old, was serving a six-month sentence. Donald had been diagnosed with multiple mental health issues prior to sentencing—including psychiatric illnesses and bipolar disorder— but instead of receiving mental health treatment, Donald was held in a correctional facility. At the price of over $300.00 per day—the cost of incarcerating a single young person—Donald’s illnesses began to interfere with his life at Ohio River.