Dear Fellow Citizen of the Commonwealth:

As Chair of the General Assembly’s Commission on Youth, it is my pleasure to present the 7th Edition of the Collection of Evidence-based Practices for Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Treatment Needs .

The 7th Edition of the Collection is designed to be a quick reference guide for those seeking an overview of evidence-based mental health treatments for children and adolescents. This condensed edition provides a description of mental health conditions that affect youth, a discussion of evidence-based treatments, and a compendium of resources for further reading. The 7th Edition is intended to be used in conjunction with the 6th Edition, which provides in-depth information about each disorder, as well as a summary of current research on mental health treatments for children and adolescents. Both editions are available on the Commission’s website at http://vcoy.virginia.gov.

The 2002 General Assembly, through Senate Joint Resolution 99, directed the Virginia Commission on Youth to coordinate the collection of treatments that are recognized as effective for children, including juvenile offenders, who have mental health treatment needs, symptoms, and disorders. The resulting publication was compiled by the Commission with the assistance of an advisory group of experts pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 99. The Collection was published in House Document 9 and presented to the Governor and the 2003 General Assembly.

To ensure that this information remained current and reached the intended audience, the 2003 General Assembly passed Senate Joint Resolution 358, which requires the Commission on Youth to update the Collection biennially and to disseminate it via web technologies. Since 2003, the Commission has updated this resource and made it available through the Commission on Youth website and in print editions.

The Commission on Youth gratefully acknowledges the contributions of its Advisory Group members. For more information about the Virginia Commission on Youth or the Collection, I encourage you to visit our website at http://vcoy.virginia.gov .

Sincerely,

Richard P. “Dickie" Bell