Toward a public mental health promotion and intervention system for youth

Substantial limitations exist at all levels of mental health care for youth in most communities in the United Slates. Particular gaps exist in the are as of prevention, mental health promotion, and early intervention programs. The national movement toward enhancing mental health programs for youth in schools offers an important opportunity to fill gaps in the prevention-ser vices continuum toward the development of a Public Mental Health Promotion and Intervention System for Youth. A strategy - the Child and Adolescent Pr ogram Planning Schema (CAPPS) - is presented to analyze gaps in a community 's system of mental health programs for youth, and to facilitate planning t oward development of a full continuum of programs from broad population-bas ed prevention, and mental health promotion strategies to treatment of youth with more established problems.