Introducing the Latest Special Interest Group at SCCAP:

The Summer Treatment Program SIG

Introducing the Latest Special Interest Group at SCCAP:

The Summer Treatment Program SIG

By Katie Hart, PhD & Sarah Tannenbaum, PsyD, ABPP
Co-Chairs, STP SIG

The Summer Treatment Program (STP) Special Interest Group (SIG) is thrilled to join the dynamic SIG community of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCCAP). Our SIG is dedicated to the dissemination, research, training, consultation, leadership, and expansion of available STPs. The primary goal of the STP SIG is to provide a professional forum that supports clinicians, researchers, students/trainees, and administrators in the successful implementation of STPs. As a unified network of scientists, practitioners, and administrators, the STP SIG is interested in developing a venue to share emerging or promising practices and interventions that can enhance the STP by increasing access, promoting equity, increasing diversity, improving training practices for the next generation of child mental health practitioners, and incorporating more family/stakeholder feedback and voice into intervention strategies.

Establishing our SIG this year feels even more meaningful with the loss of STP pioneer, trailblazer, and visionary, Dr. William E. Pelham, Jr. The first STPs were run in the early 1980’s at Florida State University. Since then, it has been conducted in a variety of university, clinic, hospital, school, and out-of-school settings throughout North America and internationally and has been expanded through rigorous research to serve children across the early childhood, elementary, and middle school years. It has received many accolades, including being recognized as a Model Program for Service Delivery for Child and Family Mental Health by SCCAP. The STP represents the best of the best of best practices for children with ADHD and other behavioral, emotional, and associated learning challenges. It has shaped our understanding and treatment of ADHD in ways that will live on for years to come. What it has inspired in the children and families who have experienced the program, in the students and staff who have worked in the program or led the program is immeasurable. It is truly life-changing. We are excited to be part of ensuring that this program continues to change and inspire lives for years to come.

Despite being a well-known evidence-based treatment for children with ADHD, STP is only regularly offered at 15 sites across the US, suggesting dissemination and implementation challenges that limit access for many. With rates of ADHD and co-occurring conditions on the rise and representing significant hardship, there is a need to improve access to this important, life-changing intervention. However, there are many barriers to running high fidelity STPs including the requirement for highly specialized training, limited knowledge and awareness of the intervention, and limited research into adaptations of the STP in community settings. Therefore, there is a need to spread awareness of the STP and to connect STP clinicians, researchers, and administrators so that those working to implement STPs have a platform to share resources and creative adaptations or intervention strategies.

The STP SIG is interested in (a) creating a national network of STP providers and programs, (b) developing shared resources and a listserv to offer space for clinical conversations, questions, guidance, and problem-solving around STP implementation, (c) educating others about STPs, (d) promoting awareness of STPs and adapted STP programs, (e) providing mentorship for those seeking to develop or expand STPs, and (f) refining best practices for STPs in community settings with diverse populations and budgetary restraints. Given the significant number of children diagnosed with ADHD, the hardships faced by children and families diagnosed with complex ADHD, and the limited availability of evidence-based resources such as STPs, there is a great need for a special interest group to connect professionals committed to increasing access.

An STP takes a village, and we are here for you! Please join us in connecting around the world through this program that has changed our lives and so many others. We welcome all your feedback, questions, comments, and insights about STPs! Let’s keep STPs and Dr. Pelham’s legacy going.