Blamed and Ashamed: The Treatment Experiences of Youth With Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders and Their Families

Letter From The Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health

Dear Readers:

It has been both an honor and an adventure for the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health to conduct this study with Keys for Networking, Inc., our statewide organization in Kansas, and a team of outstanding youth researchers. This was a unique project in which youth took the lead and adults provided training and technical support. This fine product is a tribute to the resilience, creativity, energy, and intelligence of the young men and women with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders who designed the study and did the work. Blamed and Ashamed is a wake-up call to everyone concerned with improving services for children and youth who have both substance abuse and mental health problems.

We appreciate the cooperation of the Federation state organizations and chapters throughout the country for their assistance in recruiting individuals to participate in the focus groups. Mostly we are deeply indebted to the youth and their families who shared intimate details of their lives so the rest of us would really understand their experience. We are conscious of their trusting us to use their stories with respect and compassion.

Blamed and Ashamed was presented as a performance by some of the researchers at the Federation’s Annual Conference in December of 2000. Dr. Bert Pepper, a member of the SAMHSA Advisory Council and an acknowledged expert on youth with co-occuring disorders, provided background information on this problem and commentary on our findings. His valuable remarks are appended to our report. We appreciate Dr. Pepper’s validation of our work and his support of our recommendations.

We also gratefully acknowledge Dr. Nelba Chavez, Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at the time this study was conducted. Her encouragement, leadership, and financial support made this work possible. We thank you for listening.

Sincerely,
Barbara Huff, Executive Director
Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health

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