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Frank, who eight months earlier had received a diagnosis of psychosis, the signature symptom of schizophrenia, and had been in and out of the hospital, gradually learned to take charge of his own recovery, in a new approach to treatment for people experiencing a first psychotic “break” with reality. At a time when lawmakers in Washington are debating large-scale reforms to the mental health care system, analysts are carefully watching a handful of new first-break programs like the one that treated Frank in New York as a way to potentially ease the cycle of hospitalization and lifetime disability that afflict so many mentally ill people. (Carey, 12/28)

What has stuck with Vicki and Peter Brown for years, beyond the enduring grief of losing their only child, Matthew, are the emotional traumas they all suffered during his struggle with a rare form of bone cancer. ... The couple ultimately launched a years-long effort to try to ensure that children with cancer and their families get the help they need for the non-medical aspects of the disease. Last week, their hard work paid off with the publication of the first national standards for the “psychosocial” care of children with cancer and their families. (Dennis, 12/29)

Talks over a deal to improve mental health care for children broke down largely because the state didn't want a federal judge to oversee its implementation. That's according to a transcript of what lawyers for Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and the U.S. Justice Department told U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate. (Amy, 1/1)

Washington state says it needs more time to comply with a federal judge’s order requiring officials to quickly provide mentally ill defendants with competency evaluations and treatment. (1/2)