In My Backyard

Today’s podcast discusses the impact of foster placement on children. According to researchers Sarah Font and Elizabeth Gershoff, at any given time in the United States there are approximately 700,000 children living in out of home placement away from their parents due to substantiated child abuse or neglect. While foster placement is an effort to protect vulnerable children, there is no question that placement itself brings its own level of trauma. Removal from a family home to an already traumatized child adds another layer of trauma and loss. As Font and Gershoff note, however, “the alternative to foster care may be continued abuse, neglect and traumatization of vulnerable children. Leaving children in homes with caregivers investigated for maltreatment can have dire consequences”.  

Dr Putnam-Hornstein studied children born in California between 1999 to 2006 and found that children who were reported to the system for maltreatment, substantiated or not, were 6 times more likely to die from intentional injury by their caregiver and 2 times more likely to die from unintentional injury. Further, Drs. Kim and Drake found in 2019 that one in four child victims of confirmed maltreatment were revictimized. Foster care may not be ideal, but nor are the alternatives.

In this episode, Patricia speaks with Wendy Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer of Penny Lane Centers. Founded in 1969, Penny Lane today offers preventative services, Substance Abuse Treatment, residential care, transitional and permanent housing for former foster youth, foster care and adoption services as well as outpatient mental health care. Wendy began her career at Penny Lane as a clinician, finding a professional home where she has served since then. Wendy today is a leading advocate across the county and the state for services to our foster youth.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Today’s podcast discusses suicide, which might be painful and triggering for some listeners. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, or are worried that someone you love might be suicidal, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. That is 1-800-273-TALK, or 8255. Help is available. 

This episode discusses the recent heartbreaking pattern of completed suicides by elite female student athletes. Since March of this year, four high-profile female athletes have taken their own lives on college campuses. All were top performing athletes at major universities and seemed to have everything going for them. Katie Meyer was a star goalkeeper for the Stanford University soccer team – an elite athlete at an elite school. Sarah Shulze was a top cross-country runner for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was a local California girl before heading to college. Lauren Bernett was a champion softball catcher for James Madison University. Her death by suicide so impacted the team, the season was cancelled. Arlana Miller was a freshman on the cheerleading team at Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana. She as only 19 when she died by suicide. 

Being an elite college athlete does not statistically mean greater risk of mental illness, depression or suicide. Dr. Ashwin Rao et al found in 2015 that suicide rates among NCAA athletes was “lower than that of the general and collegiate population of similar age,” although it was still the third leading cause of death among this group. In fact, school sports bring with them many potential mental health benefits – being outside, being a member of a team, and physical activity are all things that we know improve mental and emotional well-being.  

Today’s podcast discusses suicide, which might be painful and triggering for some listeners. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, or are worried that someone you love might be suicidal, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. That is 1-800-273-TALK, or 8255. Help is available. 

This episode discusses the recent heartbreaking pattern of completed suicides by elite female student athletes. Since March of this year, four high-profile female athletes have taken their own lives on college campuses. All were top performing athletes at major universities and seemed to have everything going for them. Katie Meyer was a star goalkeeper for the Stanford University soccer team – an elite athlete at an elite school. Sarah Shulze was a top cross-country runner for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was a local California girl before heading to college. Lauren Bernett was a champion softball catcher for James Madison University. Her death by suicide so impacted the team, the season was cancelled. Arlana Miller was a freshman on the cheerleading team at Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana. She as only 19 when she died by suicide. 

Being an elite college athlete does not statistically mean greater risk of mental illness, depression or suicide. Dr. Ashwin Rao et al found in 2015 that suicide rates among NCAA athletes was “lower than that of the general and collegiate population of similar age,” although it was still the third leading cause of death among this group. In fact, school sports bring with them many potential mental health benefits – being outside, being a member of a team, and physical activity are all things that we know improve mental and emotional well-being.  

Today’s podcast discusses an area of mental health that has gained increasing levels of attention over the past decade: mental health diagnoses and treatment of very young children aged birth to five. 

Conversations about mental health and very young children are often met with skepticism. As Drs Osofsky and Lieberman write, there is a “pervasive, but mistaken, impression that young children do not develop mental health problems and are immune to the effects of early adversity and trauma because they are inherently resilient and grow out of behavioral problems and emotional difficulties”. Drs Tronick and Beeghly go further, explaining that the false assumption is that infants and toddlers can’t have mental health problems because they “lack mental life”. In reality, we know this isn’t true.  

According to Drs. Stygar and Zadroga of the Mayo Clinic, “many mental health concerns have roots traceable to challenges occurring in infancy and early childhood, and early interventions for these developing minds are necessary to prevent future mental health disorders.” Briefs from the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child explain, “our genes contain certain instructions that tell our bodies how to work, but the environment leaves a signature on the genes that authorizes or prevents those instructions from being carried out – or even speeds up or slows down genetic activity. Thus, the interaction between genetic predispositions and sustained, stress-inducing experiences early in life can lay an unstable foundation for mental health that endures well into adult years”.

In this episode Patricia speaks with Guidance Center clinicians, Megan Bunting & Safiya Tormo, who specialize in the assessment and treatment of young children aged birth to five. Megan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at The Guidance Center’s Long Beach Outpatient Clinic and Safiya is

Today’s podcast discusses an area of mental health that has gained increasing levels of attention over the past decade: mental health diagnoses and treatment of very young children aged birth to five. 

Conversations about mental health and very young children are often met with skepticism. As Drs Osofsky and Lieberman write, there is a “pervasive, but mistaken, impression that young children do not develop mental health problems and are immune to the effects of early adversity and trauma because they are inherently resilient and grow out of behavioral problems and emotional difficulties”. Drs Tronick and Beeghly go further, explaining that the false assumption is that infants and toddlers can’t have mental health problems because they “lack mental life”. In reality, we know this isn’t true.  

According to Drs. Stygar and Zadroga of the Mayo Clinic, “many mental health concerns have roots traceable to challenges occurring in infancy and early childhood, and early interventions for these developing minds are necessary to prevent future mental health disorders.” Briefs from the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child explain, “our genes contain certain instructions that tell our bodies how to work, but the environment leaves a signature on the genes that authorizes or prevents those instructions from being carried out – or even speeds up or slows down genetic activity. Thus, the interaction between genetic predispositions and sustained, stress-inducing experiences early in life can lay an unstable foundation for mental health that endures well into adult years”.

In this episode Patricia speaks with Guidance Center clinicians, Megan Bunting & Safiya Tormo, who specialize in the assessment and treatment of young children aged birth to five. Megan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at The Guidance Center’s Long Beach Outpatient Clinic and Safiya is

Today’s episode discusses the pros and cons of offering our most troubled children intensive field-based treatment, over long-term residential placement or hospitalization.  

Current data tragically still shows us that only 25% of the children in the United States who need mental health care actually receive it; however in California real efforts have been made to create community-based programs that can effectively treat our most troubled children without the need for residential care. In 2004, California voters approved Proposition 63, which was signed into law as the Mental Health Services Act, or MHSA. The MHSA levied a 1 percent tax on all personal incomes over $1 million, resulting in a substantial investment in mental health for California residents. The intent of the act was to address the urgent need for expanding accessible, recovery-based, community mental health services. This episode will focus on one aspect of the act that allocates funding for intensive and comprehensive field-based care, known statewide as Community Services and Supports, or CSS.  

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, these intensive field-based services are the “signature programs of the (state’s) 2004 Mental Health Services Act and a foundational program for an effective community based mental health system.” Intensive field-based programs have been established across the state, with the core mission of doing “whatever it takes” to maintain clients in the community and help lead them to a path of wellness. These programs offer very intensive mental health, psychiatry and case management services in the community.  

Today Tricia speaks with Vanessa Ayala, an Associate Clinical Social Worker at The Guidance Center’s Compton Clinic. She is a clinician in the intensive services program and shares her knowledge about treatment for these very high need children and families. 

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Today’s episode discusses the pros and cons of offering our most troubled children intensive field-based treatment, over long-term residential placement or hospitalization.  

Current data tragically still shows us that only 25% of the children in the United States who need mental health care actually receive it; however in California real efforts have been made to create community-based programs that can effectively treat our most troubled children without the need for residential care. In 2004, California voters approved Proposition 63, which was signed into law as the Mental Health Services Act, or MHSA. The MHSA levied a 1 percent tax on all personal incomes over $1 million, resulting in a substantial investment in mental health for California residents. The intent of the act was to address the urgent need for expanding accessible, recovery-based, community mental health services. This episode will focus on one aspect of the act that allocates funding for intensive and comprehensive field-based care, known statewide as Community Services and Supports, or CSS.  

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, these intensive field-based services are the “signature programs of the (state’s) 2004 Mental Health Services Act and a foundational program for an effective community based mental health system.” Intensive field-based programs have been established across the state, with the core mission of doing “whatever it takes” to maintain clients in the community and help lead them to a path of wellness. These programs offer very intensive mental health, psychiatry and case management services in the community.  

Today Tricia speaks with Vanessa Ayala, an Associate Clinical Social Worker at The Guidance Center’s Compton Clinic. She is a clinician in the intensive services program and shares her knowledge about treatment for these very high need children and families. 

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week’s episode discusses one element of the mental health experience, standardized psychological testing in the clinical assessment.  

When an individual begins mental health treatment, any competent clinician regardless of discipline will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the client at the outset. This assessment generally includes a detailed interview of the client, and perhaps other interested parties such as parents and teachers. It will include what is said in the interviews, as well as data that the clinician observes. Observational data can include, for example, whether the client makes eye-contact, their affect, or emotional expression, if they seem agitated or depressed, or whether they are cleanly and appropriately dressed. There might be informal questionnaires, school or medical records and perhaps a referral for a medical examination. These assessments are essential to understand what is troubling a client, what might be an appropriate mental health diagnosis and how treatment should be structured to be most useful. 

According to the American Psychological Association, or APA, standardized psychological testing is related to but separate from the clinical assessment. It may be administered as part of clinical assessment, particularly when there is some question about appropriate diagnosis. Psychological testing may also be used to test the suitability for a job, or to predict future academic abilities.  

Today Tricia speaks with Dr. Dawn Vo-Jutabha, Chief Clinical Officer of The Guidance Center. Dawn earned her doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis in children and families from Clark University in 2005. Since then, she has dedicated herself to working with underserved children and families in community mental health. In addition to her role at The Guidance Center, Dawn has also held multiple leadership positions in her field. These include the Co-Chair of the Southern California Association of Psychology Training Programs, committee member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Programs and a membership on the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation.  

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week’s episode discusses one element of the mental health experience, standardized psychological testing in the clinical assessment.  

When an individual begins mental health treatment, any competent clinician regardless of discipline will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the client at the outset. This assessment generally includes a detailed interview of the client, and perhaps other interested parties such as parents and teachers. It will include what is said in the interviews, as well as data that the clinician observes. Observational data can include, for example, whether the client makes eye-contact, their affect, or emotional expression, if they seem agitated or depressed, or whether they are cleanly and appropriately dressed. There might be informal questionnaires, school or medical records and perhaps a referral for a medical examination. These assessments are essential to understand what is troubling a client, what might be an appropriate mental health diagnosis and how treatment should be structured to be most useful. 

According to the American Psychological Association, or APA, standardized psychological testing is related to but separate from the clinical assessment. It may be administered as part of clinical assessment, particularly when there is some question about appropriate diagnosis. Psychological testing may also be used to test the suitability for a job, or to predict future academic abilities.  

Today Tricia speaks with Dr. Dawn Vo-Jutabha, Chief Clinical Officer of The Guidance Center. Dawn earned her doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis in children and families from Clark University in 2005. Since then, she has dedicated herself to working with underserved children and families in community mental health. In addition to her role at The Guidance Center, Dawn has also held multiple leadership positions in her field. These include the Co-Chair of the Southern California Association of Psychology Training Programs, committee member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Programs and a membership on the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation.  

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Today’s episode discusses the ongoing trauma of gang involvement, specifically the lasting impact on those who joined as minors. According to a National Youth Gang Survey, two out of every five active gang members are juveniles, and therefore particularly vulnerable to the pressures and traumas associated with gang affiliation and community violence.

As this relates to gangs, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network explains, “while traumatic stress is certainly not the sole cause for gang involvement and delinquency, it can increase a youth’s vulnerability to a gang’s appeal. Gangs can offer a sense of safety, control and structure often missing in the lives of traumatized youth”. Gangs offer traumatized youth an opportunity to experience affirmation, often for the first time. These are children who have not experienced a family, community or society that is able to protect and provide for them, to offer them a vision of a positive future. The gang then steps in to fill that role.

This week Tricia speaks with Luis Javier Rodriguez, a renowned poet, novelist, journalist and community activist. He was named the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate by Mayor Eric Garcetti and is perhaps best known for his memoir Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in LA, for which he received the Carl Sandburg Literary Award. Luis is also the founder of the Tia Chucha Press and Tia Chucha Cultural Center.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.