---

The winner of the 2009 Poster Contest for Children's Mental Health Week. THE $500 WINNER! Children's Unit and Girls Residential Unit Art Therapy, Elizabeth Brown, teacher, William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute, Columbia, SC. Description: Caring Communities, Successful Children. This piece is full of color, and represents a collage of work from the children and youth. Happiness is seen with the sun high in the sky. There are children playing on a playground, with city and town places in the background, including the school, church, and businesses.

Congratulations ... This poster will be used for the 2010 Children's Mental Health Week awareness events. Ms. Brown's class will receive $500. We want to thank all of the children and youth who participated in the contest. We had nine excellent submissions. A total of 1,055 votes were cast. We hope that all those who voted will continue to help eliminate stigma and increase awareness of mental/behavioral health! Make plans to participate in the 2010-2011 contest! Notices for participation will go out in September 2010. For more information, contact mpaget@ed.sc.gov . This contest was sponsored by the SC Dept. of EDU Office of Exceptional Children, Federation of Families of SC, the Dept. of Mental Health, and SC Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders

---

White House Staff Meeting Report from Joe Ryan
regarding Restraint and Seclusion

I have attached an After Action Report for the meeting I recently attended with the White House Education staff regarding the use of seclusion and restraint in schools. The meeting was very positive. While no immediate actions resulted from the meeting, it laid important groundwork for additional discussions and meetings (e.g, Congressional Briefings) in the future. The After Action Report provides details related to this and other highlights from the meeting.

National CCBD Actions:
Physical Restraint & Seclusion Procedures
Physical Restraint Procedures
Use of Seclusion

For more, check out SmartBrief at CEC.sped.ORG

---

ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom
published by IES National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance

Presentation to Congress on CMH Day, May 7, 2009 ...dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jane Knitzer, who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of children and families.  Her work on the landmark publication Unclaimed Children: The Failure of Public Responsibility to Children and Adolescents in Need of Mental Health Services and more recently on Unclaimed Children Revisited has helped to transform our understanding of the unmet needs of children and youth.

---

Our Blog Page ...a great communications tool now
available to the membership. Please participate!