This rally is an effort of a coalition of organizations that support HB 1278 and all participants are encouraged to wear blue to the event.

For more information on the Children in Crisis Tax Credit, please contact Emily van Schenkhof at emily@missourikidsfirst.org or 573-826-0031.

Tips and Ideas for

Children’s Mental Health Week Activities

May 6^th – 12, 2012

Here are some ideas of ways to help raise money and/or get support to have a successful Children’s Mental Health Week 2012 event.  There are so many ways to bring awareness! When you approach groups, businesses, etc in your community, you are raising awareness for Children’s Mental Health just by having a conversation about why you would like them to support these activities.  Keep a list of everyone who donates so you can send a thank you card. Display that list to show others in the community who supported your awareness activities.

GET EXCITED!

DONATION/FUNDING TIPS

1. 1.     The timing is perfect to approach stores in your community to see if they would be willing to donate left over St. Patrick’s Day decorations. Stores in your community that might have items to donate are Deals, Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Party supply stores etc.
2. 2.     GREEN RIBBONS are a cheap way start conversations and bring awareness to the community about Children’s Mental Health. If funding is an issue, think about community resources…do you have a Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, craft/fabric store that you could ask to donate a few roles of green ribbon?
   1. Get everyone involved! Ask children, youth, and family members in your community, agency, or organization to help make green ribbons to distribute during CMHW 2012.
   2. Is there a group in your school district that might want to take this on as a project? Student Council, Honor Society, A+ students or students in an after-school program.
   3. Are there groups of youth and young adults in community activities that might be about to help with the ribbon project? Try reaching out to youth groups connected with faith-based and/or civic organizations. A civic organization example would be Chamber of Commerce groups such as Young Professionals.

1. 3.     Consider having a couple “casual dress” work day in April at your agency or organization. Ask employees to pay a small amount to wear casual work clothes on designated days. Make posters about “casual dress” day. Have a child or youth make the poster!

a)    Give participants a green ribbon or some marker to get people asking questions. BE CREATIVE! You never know when someone will ask you why you are wearing a green ribbon or something out of the ordinary.

b)    If you are having trouble getting local donations, activities like this one will assist with funding. Traditional fundraisers work just as well! Bake sales, donating a parking space, etc.

1. 4.     Funds raised can also be used for an event to bring family members, youth and children together to celebrate CMHW.  Watch the System of Care website for idea’s on ways to celebrate with families.

Three electronic packets including additional activity ideas and links to existing Toolkits will be available on the System of Care Website at www.mosystemofcare.com. Packets are geared toward community organizations (available now), state agencies (available now), and schools (coming soon). Information on how to prepare for a Mayor’s Proclamation in your community is also available. Let’s get as many as we can!

Also remember to send all events (including flyers, advertising, etc.) for CMHW 2012 to Kristi Scoville at Kristi.Scoville@dmh.mo.gov. We want to showcase Missouri’s efforts to promote Children’s Mental Health Week 2012!

If you have specific questions about CMHW 2012, feel free to email LuAnn Reese at Luann.Reese@dmh.mo.gov or Lisa Martin at Lisa.Martin2@dmh.mo.gov. 

Mercy recently announced Erich Mertensmeyer, DO, joined Mercy Clinic Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery Center and will also offer outreach services to Mercy Clinic Ear, Nose and Throat Lebanon. He received his medical education from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville. He completed his residency training at Freeman Health System in Joplin. Mertensmeyer is a member of the American Osteopathic College of Otolaryngology Ophthalmology–Head and Neck Surgery, the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the American Osteopathic Association, the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120320/LIFE04/303200019/Medical-Movers

“Criminology and Criminal Justice: Ozarks Partners in Preventing and Reducing Crime” 

The 4^th Annual Missouri State University Criminology and Criminal Justice Conference

 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Plaster Student Union – 3^rd Floor

2012 Conference BIG Flyer

Protect Our Kids Act Petition

2,500 American children are killed every year as a result of child abuse.
80 percent of those killed are under the age of four.
Almost half are under age one.

There is something you can do…..

The bi-partisan and bicameral Protect Our Kids Act was recently introduced bySenator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), and 10 members of the House Ways and Means Committee.  This bill will create a National Commission on Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths to study and evaluate federal, state, and private child welfare systems and develop a national strategy to prevent and reduce these deaths.

This is a great step forward; however, in order for this bill to pass we need the support of your congressperson!

All it takes is a minute of your time to click here and sign the petition asking your member of congress to support this act. Then click here to send a letter to your Congressmembers.  Please sign now and forward this email to your friends, colleagues, and family members. Together, we can reduce child abuse and neglect deaths.

Protect Our Kids Act Press Release

Click here to listen to live streaming audio of the event!

COALITION:  SANDUSKY AND SYRACUSE SCANDALS SHOULD NOT DISTRACT CONGRESS FROM RESPONDING TO AMERICA’S EPIDEMIC OF CHILD ABUSE AND RELATED DEATHS
Bipartisan Bill Would Develop a Strategy for Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths; Experts Concerned That Widely Publicized Abuse Cases Are Obscuring Need for Wider Action.

WASHINGTON, DC (December 15, 2011)  As the national news media continues to focus on the Sandusky and Syracuse child abuse allegations, a coalition of national experts applauded a bill introduced this week by U.S. Senators.  John Kerry (D-MA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and U.S. Representatives Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Joseph Crowley (D-NY), who were joined by ten members of the House Ways and Means Committee, proposed a bill that could make a significant impact towards reducing fatalities resulting from child abuse and neglect, and make improvements throughout the child welfare system.

More than seven children die from abuse and neglect every day in America – some 2,500 a year – reflecting the estimated 50 percent undercounting in the officially estimated figure of 1,560. A child is abused or neglected every 36 seconds in the United States, yet only 40 percent of abused children with substantiated cases receive services, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Representatives of the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths (NCECAD) today expressed concern that the current national media attention being paid to the Sandusky and Syracuse child abuse allegations would not create the needed additional pressure on Congress to deal with wider child death and abuse problems. Such focused attention on specific abuse cases often obscures the need for wider attention to the problem, according to the NCECAD experts.

Click here to see the entire press release and quotes from the sponsors.

More Than 2,500 American Children Die Each Year from Abuse and Neglect

Public Health Problems

http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childmaltreatment/EconomicCost.html

Child maltreatment is a serious and prevalent public health problem in the United States. In fiscal year 2008, U.S. state and local child protective services (CPS) received more than 3 million reports of children being abused or neglected—or about 6 complaints per minute, every day. An estimated 772,000 children were classified by CPS authorities as being maltreated and 1,740 children aged 0 to 17 died from abuse and neglect in 2008.

The financial costs for victims and society are substantial. A recent CDC study, The Economic Burden of Child Maltreatment in the United States and Implications for Prevention, found the total lifetime estimated financial costs associated with just one year of confirmed cases of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect) is approximately $124 billion.

Published in Child Abuse and Neglect, The International Journal, the study looked at confirmed child maltreatment cases—1,740 fatal and 579,000 non-fatal—for a 12-month period. Findings show each death due to child maltreatment had a lifetime cost of about $1.3 million, almost all of it in money that the child would have earned over a lifetime if he or she had lived. The lifetime cost for each victim of child maltreatment who lived was $210,012, which is comparable to other costly health conditions such as stroke with a lifetime cost per person estimated at $159,846 or type 2 diabetes, which is estimated between $181,000 and $253,000.

A promising array of prevention and response programs have great potential to reduce child maltreatment. Given the substantial economic burden of child maltreatment, the benefits of prevention will likely outweigh the costs for effective programs.