|
Mental Health Publications
Fact
Sheets
- Fact
Sheets on Federal Programs to Assist Transition-Age Youth
with Serious Mental Health Conditions. Developed by
the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the fact sheets
are grouped into 12 categories and cover topics from mental
health and substance abuse services to education, housing,
and juvenile justice. Each fact sheet offers information
about the program's purpose, services, and funded activities;
the administering federal agency; and grantee and beneficiary
eligibility, as well as a brief assessment of the program's
impact.
Periodicals/Articles
Policy
Statements
AAP Policy Addresses School-based Mental Health
Services
School-based programs offer the promise of improving
access to diagnosis of and treatment for the mental health
problems of children and adolescents, according to a recent
policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP). The statement, titled "School-based Mental Health
Services," states that pediatric health care professionals,
educators, and mental health specialists should work in
collaboration to develop and implement effective school-based
mental health services.
Available at: aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/pediatrics;113/6/1839.pdf
AAP Recommends Comprehensive Evaluation Before School Expulsion
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a new
policy statement on the subject of school suspensions and
expulsions. The statement, Out-of-School Suspension and
Expulsion, has recommendations for pediatricians and schools
on how these punishments should be administered. The statement's
authors cite evidence that out-of-school adolescents are
more likely to use drugs, engage in sexual intercourse and
develop thoughts of suicide. The lack of professional help
at the time of removal from school, when a student most
needs it, increases the risk of permanent school drop out.
The AAP statement offers specific recommendations for pediatricians
as well as for school personnel to consider before student
suspension or expulsion. Available at: aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/pediatrics;112/5/1206.pdf
Insurance
Coverage of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for
Children and Adolescents: A Consensus Statement Pediatrics
106 (4) : 860-862. October 2000.
Reports/Documents
General |Impact
on Families | Public/Private Insurance
| Model Programs | School/Education
| State | National
In a report titled “Addressing the Interface
Between Pediatrics and Psychiatry” appearing in the
September issue of Psychiatric Times, John Campo, MD, FAAP,
addresses efforts at collaboration between the two disciplines.
To view the entire report, visit www.psychiatrictimes.com/p040940.html
The National Association of City and County
Health Officials (NACCHO) has produced two publications
to encourage understanding of and collaboration between
mental health and public health issues and communities.
Guiding Principles for Collaboration Between Mental Health
and Public Health presents a statement of purpose and recommendations
for increasing collaboration based on the results of an
April 2004 consensus meeting to: (1) discuss
the current connection between the practice and systems
of public health and mental health, (2)
identify key challenges in incorporating public health practices
into mental health services, and (3) exchange
resources and expertise to achieve the goal of improving
the public's health. Supporting Collaboration Between Mental
Health and Public Health provides a historical context in
which to consider the relationship between mental health
and public health; background about mental health disorders,
surveillance, and infrastructure; and recommended action
steps that federal, national, state, and local entities
can take to integrate public health and mental health. The
publications are available at http://www.naccho.org/topics/hpdp/mentalhealth/Pubs.cfm
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (September 13, 2004) —
As the Food and Drug Administration reconvenes today to
continue its review of the use of antidepressant medications
for children and adolescents, the National Mental Health
Association wants to help parents better understand and
respond to the issue.
“This debate is surrounded by conflicting –
and often inaccurate – messages. It’s confusing
and downright frightening for parents who are trying to
ensure the safety and health of their children,” says
Michael M. Faenza, MSSW, president and CEO of NMHA. “Depression
is a very serious health problem. As children’s advocates,
we fear that unbalanced, negative messages about mental
health is harmful to children and families.”
Affecting one in eight adolescents, depression is a serious
illness that is also very treatable, most often with a combination
of medication and talk therapy. However, left untreated
it can lead to significant problems at home, in school and
with peers – as well as to life-threatening problems
such as substance abuse and suicide.
“The FDA is doing exactly the right thing to examine
the safety of SSRI medications – as it should all
medications prescribed to children,” continues Faenza.
“Treatment efficacy and safety are vital; however,
we cannot take actions or send messages that erect unnecessary
barriers to care. Children and families must have access
to all forms of treatment that may be appropriate for them.”
NPR Four-Part Series
Examining Mental Illness in Children [Sep 22, 2003]
NPR's "Morning Edition" developed a
four-part series on the increasing number
of children diagnosed with mental illness in the United
States. To access this programming on line, click
here.
NAMI releases task force report on
children and psychiatric medications
For children and teenagers with mental illnesses, the greatest
risk may be to do nothing, the National Alliance for the
Mentally Ill (NAMI) warned in a report titled "Children
and Psychiatric Medications."
" Mental Illnesses are profound and life threatening
illnesses," says NAMI medical director Kenneth Duckworth,
MD. "That's the reality before anyone even starts to
talk about medications. Life is uncertain. Risks are real
and must be carefully weighed. But sometimes the worst risk
lies in doing nothing.
The report does not seek to judge competing clinical studies,
but instead emphasizes principles of sound clinical practice
and overarching policy concerns, which Duckworth says "get
to the heart of what it means to practice medicine."
They include the right of parental choice, the nature of
the physician-patient relationship, and rights of access
to effective treatments. Available at: www.nami.org/kidsmeds
This issue brief published by the National
Health Policy Forum examines 2 issues that are key to meeting
children’s unmet needs for mental health care: ensuring
that the provider supply is adequate and that the care delivered
is effective. It describes the shortage of qualified providers
to address children’s mental disorders, as well as
its possible causes; how managed care, to a certain extent,
drives practice patterns; and the gray areas in deciding
which providers are most qualified to deliver what care.
To view the paper, visit www.nhpf.org/pdfs_ib/IB801%5FChildMHProvider%5F10%2D26%2D04%2Epdf
NAMI E-News July 7, 2004 Vol. 4-30
Congressional Investigative Report Released - NAMI Testimony
Calls for End to Warehousing Scandal
NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) today condemned
state and local governments that warehouse children and
adolescents with mental illnesses in the juvenile justice
system - simply because adequate treatment and services
in their communities are not available.
"We are spending money in all the wrong places,"
declared NAMI Maine executive director Carol Carothers,
testifying on behalf of NAMI before a hearing of the U.S.
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on a Congressional
investigative report on the scandal.
The full text of her testimony is available on-line at www.nami.org/kidsjails
15,000 children incarcerated because
of lack of mental health treatment in 2003
About 15,000 children with mental illnesses were
improperly incarcerated in detention centers in 2003 because
of a lack of access to treatment, according to a report
released in July at a Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs
hearing. For the report, the House Committee on Government
Reform surveyed more than 500 juvenile detention centers
nationwide and found that 33 states detained children with
mental illnesses who faced no criminal charges. The report
also found that 2,000 children with mental illnesses, or
7% of all children in detention centers, remain incarcerated
because of a lack of access to treatment. This report is
available by clicking
here.
Impact
on Families
NMHA offers the following tips for parents
on how best to approach their child’s care:
- Seek help if your child shows signs of depression or
other mental health problems. Discuss all available treatment
options with your child’s doctor, and carefully
weigh all the risks and benefits associated with each
treatment. (If your child is already being treated, express
any concerns that you have to your child’s doctor.)
- If your child is prescribed an antidepressant medication,
watch him or her closely and make sure s/he receives a
thorough evaluation, continual follow-up and careful monitoring
– particularly in the first several weeks –
by a qualified doctor.
- Educate yourself about the warning signs of suicide
and act quickly if you are concerned. Many people are
afraid to discuss the issue of suicide for fear of “planting”
the idea, but it is actually better to be open and direct.
- If your child is taking an antidepressant, do not abruptly
discontinue use. Doing so can lead to significant side
effects.
- Separate “fact from fiction” by using credible
sources with information based on sound medical science
rather than rumor or opinion. Beware of extreme claims,
such as antidepressants are “always dangerous”
or “never effective.” Medical research has
demonstrated that such statements are misleading and dangerous.
- Remember that the worst possible situation for a child
with a mental health problem is to go without any treatment
at all.
For additional information on childhood mental disorders,
parents can go to www.nmha.org
or call the NMHA Resource Center at 800-969-NMHA.
THE FAMILY PARTNERS PROJECT: The Health Care Experiences
of Families of Children with Special Health Care Needs.
CHILDREN WITH BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS.
"How well served are children with mental health conditions,
behavioral problems, and autism in comparison to children
without these conditions? Are there differences in parental
satisfaction with the child’s main health plan among
parents of children with these mental health/behavioral
conditions in comparison to parents whose children do not
have these conditions?" www.familyvoices.org/YourVoiceCounts/behavioral.html
Mentally Ill Children Should Remain With Families, Collins
Says
The United States must establish a "coordinated system
of community-based and home-based [mental health] services
so children can remain with their families while receiving
care" and parents do not have to relinquish custody
of their children to the state to provide them with treatment,
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Susan Collins
(R-Maine) writes in a USA Today opinion piece (Collins,
USA Today, 7/17). According to a General Accounting Office
report released in April, about 12,700 children with mental
illnesses were placed in the custody of 19 states and 33
counties in 2001 because their parents could not obtain
treatment for them. At a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
hearing on the issue on July 15, Collins said that neither
the state welfare system nor the juvenile justice system
is "equipped to care for a child with a serious mental
illness" For complete article online, click:
www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18875
The Research and Training Center on Family Support
and Children have developed a discussion board to get your
opinion.
Family involvement and family participation are closely
held values in systems of care and in many children's mental
health services. Many individuals and groups have fought
hard for the right of family members and other caregivers
to be full partners in treatment planning, service planning
and implementation, and policy development. Family advocates
must maintain vigilance to ensure that the family voice
is heard, is respected, and has influence. The RRTC on Family
Support and Children have been conducting this web-based
discussion to get your opinion. Read input on the discussion
at: www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFeaturedDiscussions18A.php
Parents Forced to Forfeit Custody of Children for
Mental Health Care
NMHA News Release October 2, 2003-ALEXANDRIA, Va. (October
2, 2003) — Each year, tens of thousands of parents
are forced to give custody of their children to the state
solely to secure desperately needed mental health services.
The National Mental Health Association commends Senator
Susan Collins and Representatives Patrick Kennedy and Pete
Stark for introducing the “Keeping Families Together
Act.” The legislation, announced at a press conference
this morning, offers alternative avenues for accessing care
that would enable children with mental illnesses to remain
with their families. In an April report, the General Accounting
Office found that, in 2001, about 12,700 children were placed
into the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in order
to access mental health services. Unfortunately, this finding
grossly understates the full extent of this problem as the
GAO found that numerous states do not collect data on such
placements. For the complete text of the release click
here.
Philadelphia Inquirer Examines
Why Some Parents Relinquish Custody To Obtain Mental Health
Treatment for Their Children
The Philadelphia Inquirer
on June 10 looked at the issue of thousands of parents nationwide
who temporarily relinquish custody of their children in
order to obtain mental health treatment for them that the
parents "otherwise could not afford." Because
many private health insurers have "stringent limits"
on mental health coverage, some parents are forced to relinquish
custody of their children to the state child welfare system,
where they can receive mental health care under Medicaid.
For complete article online, click: www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18214
Several Factors Influence the Placement
of Children Solely to Obtain Mental Health Services
Child welfare directors in 19 states and juvenile justice
officials in 30 counties estimated that in fiscal year 2001
parents placed over 12,700 children into the child welfare
or juvenile justice systems so that these
children could receive mental health services. Many are
adolescents with multiple problems and behaviors that threaten
the safety of themselves or others. Agencies say that reducing
costs,improving access, and expanding the range of mental
health services for teens could help reduce the need for
some child welfare or juvenile justice placements. A complete
version of the document is available by clicking
here. 
Public/Private
Insurance
Assertive Community Treatment in a Capitated Managed Care
System
Author: Marshall Thomas, Robert Bremer, and Christine
Engleby, Colorado Access
Published: July 2004
This Resource Paper evaluated the implementation of an Assertive
Community Treatment (ACT) team within the context of Medicaid
managed behavioral health system. It assess how ACT influences
clinical outcomes, service utilization patterns, and costs
in a group of high need/high utilizing Medicaid managed
care recipients with serious and persistent mental illness.
The evaluation documents improvements in nearly all clinical
outcome measures for high need/high utilizing managed Medicaid
recipients with serious and persistent mental illness. It
also suggests that ACT provides value-added services even
in a capitated environment where a continuum of services
is already available. Click
here to access the paper.
The Urban Institute has released Access
to Children's Mental Health Services under Medicaid and
SCHIP, a policy brief on SCHIP coverage of mental
health services and the prevalence of mental health problems
among children by income and health insurance coverage.
Since Medicaid and SCHIP cover most low-income children
and offer relatively generous coverage of mental health
compared with private insurance, they provide important
access to child mental health services.
Lessons Learned in Delivery of Coordinated
Behavioral Health Care Services and Contracting
Contracting for Coordination of Behavioral Health
Services in Privatized Child Welfare and Medicaid Managed
Care explores the issue of coordination between privatized
child welfare initiatives and Medicaid managed care systems
for the delivery of behavioral health services for children
and families
in the child welfare system. The report, supported by the
Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc., under the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation's Medicaid Managed Care Program,
includes both an analysis of contractual language related
to coordination of care and interagency collaboration and
the results of interviews conducted at four sites in Colorado,
Ohio, Massachusetts, and Missouri. Common themes
and implications for policy and practice are also presented.
The report is intended for use by state child welfare, behavioral
health, and Medicaid agencies; managed care organizations;
family organizations;
and state and federal policymakers in designing and implementing
similar contracts for systems of care.
It is available at www.chcs.org/usr_doc/promising_approaches3.pdf
Medicaid Financing of State and County
Psychiatric Hospitals.
A common perception is that public psychiatric hospitals
receive little or no Medicaid funds because of the Institutions
for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion. This policy prohibits
Medicaid reimbursement for care provided to individuals
older than 21 years or younger than 65 years if the care
is delivered in psychiatric institutions. Nevertheless,
while States continue to provide substantial support to
public psychiatric hospitals, in recent years Medicaid has
funded an increasing share of the operations of these facilities.
This study was undertaken to address the lack of comprehensive
information regarding the nature and scope of such Medicaid
support. The study identifies potential sources of Medicaid
funds paid on behalf of public psychiatric hospitals and
provides an estimate of the amount of such funds in 2001.
The Medicaid funding experiences of public psychiatric hospitals
in five States—Arkansas, California, Iowa, Maryland,
and New Jersey—were examined in depth for the study.
mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/SMA03-3830/default.asp
Medical Necessity in Private Health
Plans: Implications for Behavioral Health Care
This report addresses how the term "medical necessity"
is defined in private health insurance coverage decisions.
This report includes a summary review of the literature,
an extensive review of legal cases that challenge insurer
decisions, materials prepared by the insurance industry,
consultation with experts in the field, and more.www.mentalhealth.org/publications/allpubs/SMA03-3790/default.asp
As one of its national objectives for 2010,
the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) is striving
to ensure that all children with special health care needs
have adequate insurance coverage, including coverage for
mental health services. Although some studies have examined
costs of mental health services provided to children with
specific types of emotional disorders, few studies have
focused on mental health service use and costs within the
larger population of children with special health care needs.
Better information on this issue will assist the MCHB in
shaping future programs and policies to meet national objectives
related to insurance coverage for children with special
health care needs and, more generally, to support efforts
to establish comprehensive, community-based service systems
for all individuals within this population. www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/menhlthchil.pdf
Reforming Medicaid
Provisions for Mental Health Care
This report, published by the Bazelon Center for Mental
Health Law, analyzes recent proposals to change Medicaid
from the perspective of adults and children with mental
illnesses. These proposals have included plans to reduce
the array of services that states must provide and to reduce
the number of beneficiaries entitled to services. www.bazelon.org/issues/medicaid/publications/choicesforweb.pdf
The Provision
of Mental Health Services in Managed Care Organizations
Provides an in-depth update about the provision of mental
health services under managed care, and an understanding
of mental health services provided to privately insured
enrollees, is available at store.mentalhealth.org/publications/ordering.aspx
Access to Children's Mental Health Services
Under Medicaid and SCHIP, a review of coverage policies
for mental health services in Medicaid and the State Children's
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), provides information on
the prevalence of mental health problems and the use of
mental health services among children enrolled in the programs.
The brief is intended to guide Medicaid and SCHIP policymakers
and others on how to best serve children.
It is available at www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311053
or www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/311053_B-60.pdf
School/Education
Center for Health and Health Care in Schools
issues report on psychotropic drugs in schools. In response
to the increasing amount of psychotropic drugs brought into
schools for administration during the school day, the Center
for Health and Health Care in Schools has issued a report
to summarize key information on the topic and address the
growing disquiet on the adverse consequences of certain
drugs.
The report, titled "Psychotropic Drugs and Children:
Use, Trends, and Implications for Schools," addresses
emotional and behavioral health problems among children,
common psychotropic drugs administered to school-age children,
and the role of schools in medication administration. Available
at: www.healthinschools.org/sh/psychotropic.pdf.
Recommendations to Mental Health Commission on Schools:
www.bazelon.org
The Current Status of Mental Health in Schools:
A Policy and Practice Analysis highlights the history and
outlines the current status of mental health in schools,
explores emerging trends, and discusses policy implications.
The report was produced by the Center for Mental Health
in Schools with support from the Health Resources and Services
Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Office
of Adolescent Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental
Health Services, to provide a context for the findings of
the recently released SAMHSA report, School Mental Health
Services in the United States, 2002-2003.
Appendices include the New Freedom Commission on Mental
Health recommendations, information about reframing how
schools address barriers to learning, some natural opportunities
to enhance mental health in schools, guidelines for mental
health in schools, examples of policy statements for a unified
approach in schools, and examples of provisions in federal
law that allow districts to redeploy federal resources to
improve systems. The report is available at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/currentstatusmh.htm.
Readers: The SAMHSA report cited above
is available at: www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/sma05-4068
A Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional
Learning Programs
This
guide, from the Collaborative for Academic, Social and
EMotional LEarning (CASEL) provides a road map for schools
and districts that ar launching or adding drug education,
anti-violence or other social and emotional education programs.
The report introduces the field of social
and emotional development in young children and infants,
and presents a model of a broad system of care for infant
mental health. This system encompasses multiple service
sectors (e.g., early care and education, primary health
care, family support), at three levels of intensity, and
across four functional roles. The report presents policy
recommendations for how the State Early Childhood Comprehensive
Systems initiative can help states move toward this model
of care.
The executive summary focuses heavily on the system of
care model and specific policy recommendations for the systems
building activities that state Title V and other stakeholders
are undertaking.
The authors of the report and executive summary include
Paula Zeanah, Brian Stafford, and Geoffrey Nagle of the
Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health at
the Tulane University School of Medicine; and Thomas Rice
and Joanna Farrer of the Center for Healthier Children,
Families and Communities at the University of California,
Los Angeles.
All of the briefs, reports, and tools in the Building State
Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems series are available
to download at the National Center web site at: www.healthychild.ucla.edu/Publications/NationalCenterPubs.asp
Model
Programs
Transformimg Behavioral
Health Care to Self Direction
Self-directed care, an approach used for more than
a decade with people with developmental and physical disabilities
and older adults, offers opportunities to transform behavioral
health services by fostering consumer- and family-driven
services.
There are five new papers to serve as the foundation for
discussions related to self-direction within mental health
services and supports at the Consumer Direction Initiative
Summit, a SAMHSA sponsored meeting of 80 recipients of mental
health and addiction services and family members, policymakers,
providers, and State and Federal representatives. Paper
topics include information on how consumers can catalyze
a transformation of the mental health system to one based
on a recovery culture of self-determination and community
participation, financing mechanisms for self-determination
that include recognition of the important role of peer-to-peer
services in operating these programs, the impact of consumer
direction on families and youth in families with a child
with serious emotional problems, quality issues in consumer/family
direction, and competency issues in self-direction.
The five papers are available for downloading at: www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/consumersurvivor,
then click on Related Topics, Self-Directed Care.
The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a Public
Health Advisory announcing a multi-pronged strategy to warn
the public about the increased risk of suicidal thoughts
and behavior in children and adolescents being treated with
antidepressant medications.
The agency is directing manufacturers to add a black-box
warning to the health professional labeling of all antidepressant
medications to describe this risk and emphasize the need
for close monitoring of patients started on these medications.
The FDA has also determined that a Patient Medication Guide
(MedGuide), which will be given to patients receiving the
drugs to advise them of the risk and precautions that can
be taken, is appropriate, and is in the process of developing
one. To view the entire FDA release, visit
www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01124.html.
Hope, Meaning and Continuity:
A Program for Helping Families When Parents Face Depression"
Many communities are trying to address mental health issues
for children by trying to use prevention/early intervention
approaches. Research has shown consistently that maternal
depression puts children at high risk for mental health
and behavioral problems. A group at Children's Hospital
Boston have developed an approach to be used in primary
care or community settings that has been effective in addressing
maternal depression and the impact on the family. They are
willing to share the manual at no cost. If you are interested
in obtaining the manual, write to: Dr. William Beardslee,
MD
E-mail: william.beardslee@tch.harvard.edu
Mailing Address: Children's Hospital Boston. 300 Longwood
Avenue. Boston, MA 02115
Quality and Fidelity in Children's
Mental Health Interventions. This issue highlights
some of the challenges associated with ensuring high quality
programs and practice in Wraparound (also known as Individualized
Service/Support Planning or ISP). Wraparound has become
one of the most popular mechanisms for planning and delivering
services and supports for children with emotional and behavioral
disorders and their families. However, achieving high quality
in Wraparound programs and practice appears to be quite
difficult. Challenges arise because successful implementation
of Wraparound requires that many people learn to do things
differently. The Research and Training Center invites your
comments, opinions, and anecdotes about what it takes to
ensure high quality implementation of practices or programs
in children's mental health. To learn more or provide feedback,
go to: www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFeaturedDiscussions16.php
State
Evaluating State Mental Health Services
This recently released report from the National Mental Health
Association, "Can't make the grade: NMHA State Mental
Health Assessment Project," addresses the funding crisis
in state mental health services and discusses key issues
and questions that can assist advocates for improved mental
health policy. www.nmha.org/cantmakethegrade/
According to a recent report from the Health
Care Financing and Organization (HCFO), only a minority
of US children and adolescents who need mental health care
are receiving mental health services. Such discrepancies
in care appear to vary significantly on a state-by-state
basis, and the differences across states are not explained
by sociodemographic characteristics such as race and income.
To view the HCFO report, visit www.hcfo.net/pdf/findings1004.pdf
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services
(CMS) has worked with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) to develop technical assistance
papers on topics that State officials and others have identified
as having particular importance for Medicaid-supported mental
health services. These papers are intended to clarify specific
mental health-related Medicaid policies or to highlight
promising State practices for consideration by other States.
CMS has posted two additional papers on their web site:
one entitled "Best Practices in State Medicaid and
Mental Health Program Collaboration" which identifies
and describes the basic elements of successful collaboration
and, one entitled "Utilizing the Section 1115 Health
Insurance Flexibility and Accountability Act (HIFA) Waiver
Option to Improve Services for Persons with Mental Illness"
which describes how a State may use the HIFA waiver option
under Section 1115 authority to improve access to community-based
services for persons with mental illness. www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom/
This fourth and final Children's Mental Health Benchmarking
Project report, by Dougherty Management Associates, tracks
children's mental health data in four areas: access, utilization,
expenditures, and intersystem involvement. Findings demonstrate
that the field is incrementally moving toward a point where
states and public mental health systems are able to consistently
and reliably report on key administrative performance measures.
To access full report, visit: www.chcs.org/publications3960/publications_show.htm?doc_id=211377
Christian Science Monitor Examines Mental Health
Systems Around the United States
The Christian Science Monitor examined the effect of state
budget cuts on mental health care. Facing their "worst
fiscal crises since World War II," 29 states during
the last legislative session reduced spending on mental
health care, and more cuts are under consideration, according
to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the Monitor
reports. However, people with mental illnesses "need
treatment one way or another, and prevention is far less
costly than crisis care," according to the Monitor.
Michael Fitzpatrick, director of NAMI's Policy Research
Institute, said, "State governments don't recognize
that cuts in one place are going to show up somewhere else.
With such a diminished safety net, more people end up in
jail, in homeless shelters, in emergency rooms." Access
this story online: cme.kff.org/Key=1046.G80.D.D.MVJXsd
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration's
(SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)-through
its Child, Adolescent, and Family Programs-promotes effective
ways to organize, coordinate, and deliver mental health
services and supports for children, adolescents, and their
families.
Find a full description of the programs' efforts to meet
the mental health needs of children and their families as
well as links to related resources at the National Mental
Health Information Center's Web site at: www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/CA-0013/default.asp
National
Information on the U.S. progress in addressing
the mental health objectives listed in Healthy People 2010
have recently been released. http://oas.samhsa.gov/mentalHealthHP2010/mentalHealth.cfm
President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
The President directed the Commission to identify policies
that could be implemented by Federal, State and local governments
to maximize the utility of existing resources, improve coordination
of treatments and services, and promote successful community
integration for adults with a serious mental illness and
children with a serious emotional disturbance www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/
The final report from the New Freedom Commission on Mental
Health is now available on the Commission web site: Achieving
the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America.
- This site is currently down. For more information
click
here.
The 2004 edition of the National Directory of Drug and Alcohol
Abuse Treatment Programs is now available from Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The directory provides information on thousands of alcohol
and drug treatment programs throughout the U.S. It also
includes information on types of services provided, types
of facilities and levels of care.
To get your copy of the updated directory, contact SAMHSAs
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
(NCADI) at 1-800-729-6686 or on the web at http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/.
SAMHSA also offers an online Treatment
Facility Locator.
Strategic Use of Federal Entitlements for Children's
Access to Mental Health Services
This report, published by the Bazelon Center form Mental
Health Law, informs practitioners, attorneys and advocates
how to obtain services and supports needed by children with
emotional and behavioral disorders. Suggestions for the
strategic use of the two statues by advocates are includes.
bazelon.org/newsroom/8-27-03teamingup.htm
Last Updated
January 9, 2008
|
Inkelas M, Raghavan R, Larson K, et al. 2007. 