The 12th Annual Building on Family Strengths Conference was held from June 23rd through June 25th 2005 in Portland, Oregon. Highlights included: (1) An information-packed keynote address by Dr. Richard M. Lerner on promoting positive youth development through enhancing the assets of communities; (2) An exciting research plenary panel session that shared an approach to assessing the strengths of youth involved with substance abuse and the juvenile justice system, and organizing service delivery to promote and build on these strengths. Participants included Juliette Macklin, Laura Nissen, Laurie Rice, and a youth presenter; (3) A powerful session on Saturday featuring a first-hand account by Lizzie Simon of her work to document the challenges and successes of young people affected by mental disorders and their families. A grant from the Federation of Families for children's mental health supported an information-gathering road trip that culminated in Ms. Simon's book: The Bipolar Detour; (4) Over 70 breakout sessions and 40 poster presentations; (5) Special extra-curricular activities for family members and youth; and (6) Latino and Native American tracks. This publication contains the following papers: (1) Keynote Address: How to Promote Positive Youth Development through Enhancing the Developmental Assets of Communities: Current Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (Richard Lerner); (2) Research Plenary: Strength-Based Service Delivery for Youth Involved with Drugs and Crime: Theory, Research, Practice and Outcomes (Juliette Mackin, Laura Nissen, and Laurie Rice); (3) Wraparound Discharge and Beyond: Does Success Last? (Twylla Abrahamson and Kimberly Tyda); (4) The State's Provision of Open Adoption Services to Families and its Effectiveness for Adopted Children and Others Involved in Adoption: Oregon's Experience (Tai Soon Bai, Kathy Ledesma, Esther Cronin, and Rene Denfeld); (5) Applying theory of team development to refine multi-system response to child abuse (Rosalyn M. Bertram); (6) Enhancing Resiliency by Relieving Constraints: Staff Development & Supervision for Strengths-based Collaborative Team Efforts in Child Welfare Practice (Rosalyn M. Bertram);(7) Evidence of Assets: Using Evaluation Data to Fuel Sustainability Efforts (Glenna Boyce, Cora Price, Tracy Johnson, Michelle Benward, and Zena Robinson); (8) Young People Experiencing Psychosis: A Program of Research (Katherine M. Boydell, Jean Addington, Brenda Gladstone, Paula Goering, Terry Krupa, Elizabeth McCay, Elaine Stasiulis, and Tiziana Volpe); (9) Addressing Mental Health in Early Childhood Settings: The Role of Mental Health Consultation (Eileen Brennan, Jennifer Bradley, Mary Dallas Allen, Donna Bennington, Deborah F. Perry, and Adey Tsega); (10) "Come Pick Up Your Child!": Integrating Work and Family Life for Parents of School-Aged Children with Mental Health Challenges (Eileen Brennan, Ana Maria Brannan, Judy Kendall, Jennifer Bradley, and Kitty Huffstutter); (11) Raising the Bar: Providing Effective Family Engagement in a Comprehensive Children's Community Mental Health Program (Bruce Baker, Linda Magnuson, and Sandy Bumpus); (12) Three Perspectives on Community Partnerships in Building a Transition System for Young People and their Parents (Hewitt B. "Rusty" Clark and Nicole Deschenes); (13) Integrating Mental Health Services in a Preschool Setting: Results from a Research-Based Training (Maria Everhart, Beth Green, Constance Lehman, Jennifer Bradley, Eileen Brennan, Mary Dallas Allen, Shane Ama, and Claudia Kis); (14) Collaborating to Integrate System Responses to Families with Young Children Exposed to Violence (Alan S. Fox, Sonia Batres, and Chelsi Cheng); (15) Clark County's Options Program: Development and Evaluation of a Model Program for Transition-Age Youth (Melanie Green, Lee Osipchak, Mitchell Clark, and Nancy Koroloff); (16) Understanding Transformation in Health Systems of Care: Family and Consumer Roles (Nathaniel Isel, Melissa Van Dyke, and Robert Friedman); (17) Research and practice: A family-focused early childhood center and its long-term impact on children with serious behavioral and developmental concerns (Kimberly Kendziora, Elizabeth Spier, Fiona Helsel, Laurie Albright, Billie Navojosky, and Norah Joseph); (18) Voices of Youth and Families on Living a Successful Life in the Community (Jean Kruzich, Pauline Jivanjee, Lyn Gordon, Jan Lacy, Stephanie Thornley, and Lacey Van Kirk); (19) Finding Strength with Families (Tracy Lansing and Patricia McCollum); (20) Incredible Years & Consultation Program Evaluation (Constance Lehman, Callie H. Lambarth, and Rochelle Pegel); (21) A Theory of Change for Center-Based Family Support Practice and Research (Anita Lightburn); (22) Roadmap to Resiliency: Stages of Parenting Children with Mental Health Needs (Melanie Martin-Dent, Shawna Hooper, and Barbara Sample); (23) How to Expand a System of Family Resource Centers: The Birth & Beyond Experience (Michelle McGibbon and Patrick L. Mangan); (24) The Cedar Band of the Paiute Tribe: Evaluation of the Pee'soats-eng Project (Travis Parashonts, Tracy Johnson, Glenna Boyce, Cora Price, Glenda Pasmann); (25) Shutting One Door; Opening Another: Providing an Alternative to Admitting Children Into the State's Custody (Jana Peterson, Jill Schubauer, Ann Tvrdik, Belinda Schroder, and Harriet Lambrecht); (26) Voices of Alaskan Foster Care Alumni: A Study of What Happens After "Aging Out" of the System (Jason R. Williams, Susan M. Pope, Elizabeth A. Sirles); (27) The Haitian Immigrant Family in South Florida: Risks, Resources and Lifestyle (Guitele Jeudy Rahill and Roselande Marcellon); (28) An Exploratory Study of Parent and Young Adult Perspectives on the Child Mental Health System to the Adult Mental Health System (Mary C. Ruffolo, Deborah I. Gioia, Daniel J. Fischer, Joseph A. Himle, Alison Adlaf, and Ryan Lindsay); (29) Family Members and Program Evaluators: Implementing True Partnership in a System of Care Context (Becca Sanders, Tanya Ostrogorsky, Karen Dennis, and Shannon Billings); (30) Another Look at the Evidence-Based Practices Movement: Controversies in Research, Cultural Competence, Family Organization Values, and Policymaking (Shelley Spear and Rosa Warder); and (31) Using Focus Groups to Amplify the Voices of Families in Agency Planning and Program Evaluation (Pamela G. Watson and Scott Mueller). Conference agenda is appended. An index is included. Individual papers contain figures, tables, footnotes and references.