No wonder there are so many misconceptions about family mental health and mental illness. To help sort out the truth from myths, we turned to Lloyd Sederer, M.D., medical director of New York State’s Office of Mental Health and author of The Family Guide to Mental Health Care.

Most youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) are not receiving needed transition preparation. Although most providers are encouraging YSHCN to assume responsibility for their own health, far fewer are discussing transfer to an adult provider and insurance continuity. Although changes in sample design limit trend analysis, there have been no discernible improvements since this transition outcome was measured in the 2005–2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.

Care Plus is the first agency in the state to offer Youth Mental Health First Aid training services to schools, youth programs, community groups and others who work with young people. The youth program was developed recently by the National Council on Behavioral Healthcare.

Ms. Shannon, a licensed marriage and family therapist, describes effective treatments for social anxiety disorder in teens. Watch a video of a teen talking about her experience with the disorder and how she got help.

Families of drug addicted children ask for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to be changed so that any mental health or addiction treatment records of young adults can be shared with their parents as long as they remain on the parents’ health insurance.

The New Jersey Department of Health released a Mold Guidelines for New Jersey Residents pamphlet created to provide direction to residents on addressing mold in homes in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.