A year after shootings, little has changed in mental health care for kids

[Guest guest]

I wonder which of these clowns upped Jeff Weise's Prozac to 60mgs.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/03/16/kidsafterredlake/

A year after shootings, little has changed in mental health care for kids

by Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio

March 21, 2006

The Red Lake school shootings a year ago put a spotlight on supplying

effective mental health care for Minnesota children. Jeff Weise, the

teenager who killed nine people and wounded seven others before taking his

own life, was diagnosed and treated for depression, but with questions about

the quality of his care. A year later experts say there's been no

improvement in services or access for children who need help. In fact,

advocates say, budget cuts coupled with rising demand are putting added

strain on the system.

St. , Minn. — One year after the shootings on the Red Lake reservation

and the calls it provoked for better mental health care services for

Minnesota children, Twin Cities public school social worker Anne McInerny

says there's no improvement.

" Unfortunately, I have to say I don't think they've changed at all, " she

says.

The picture one year later for Reenie Engstrom is the same. Engstrom leads a

Duluth area program which finds help for people who need mental health

services.

" There's been no change, " she says. " It feels like it's worse. I can't say

that it's worse. Maybe it's just the continued frustration that makes it

seem worse. "

State officials say more than 40,000 Minnesota school children are getting

publicly funded care for a range of emotional and mental heath conditions.

As large as the number sounds, Dr. Will Dikel says it's a fraction of those

who need the help. Dikel is a Minneapolis child and adolescent psychiatrist.

He lectures around the country and consults with school districts on ways to

deliver mental health services. Dikel says one year after the school

shootings, he's seen nothing to change the findings of a national study.

" The surgeon general's report indicated that only one out of five children

with mental health disorders gets any treatment, " he says.

Social worker Anne McInerny, who directs a Twin Cities public school mental

health program for 22 children, says the program is full. When she calls

other services seeking help for students who need more intensive help more

often than not, McInerny says, they tell her they are full, too.

" A lot of the outside community services' funding has kind of gone down and

the needs aren't being met, " she says.

At the same time, McInerny says, there's no let-up in demand. She says she

thought the rising number of children seeking help was part of a cycle that

would wind down but it hasn't.

Instead she sees an increase in the forces which experts cite as

contributing factors to mental illness in children.

" Housing and poverty and all those things seem to be getting worse and I

think the students show us that, " she says.

Nearly everyone points to school as the logical place where children who

need help should get it. But Barbara on, a Twin Cities parent of a

child with neurobiological disease says, most school staff don't have the

training to recognize mental illness when they see it.

She says parents are told, 'Your child looks fine to us. It must be

something you're doing at home that's causing this.'

When parents are believed and do get a referral to see a professional,

Reenie Engstrom in Duluth says, long waits are common.

" It is still months and months and months to get a child an appointment. It

is still often times that if a child is in crisis and taken down to our

local mental health inpatient facility they are often saying, 'Nope, the

child is not bad enough or we don't have a bed or he's not in an extreme

enough crisis,' " she says.

Part of the reason for the strain on mental health services for children is

budget cuts. The decline in state dollars started three years ago after

several years of increases.

Charlie Kyte, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of School

Administrators, social worker Anne McInerny and 33 others serve on a task

force are advising state officials how to lower barriers to mental health

care. Kyte says a lid on federal dollars is putting a strain on the system.

" Special ed funding both in the state of Minnesota and nationally has really

been capped, which is where many of the dollars would come from, " he says.

Kyte says another pot of federal dollars that counties and school districts

share for supplying children's mental health services has dried up

altogether.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's mental health initiative would restore and expand some

services. He proposes funding it in large measure with surplus dollars from

the state's health care access fund.

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, says proposals she supports in the house

and senate would put new money toward screening children.

" Kids would get help early and identified early and then we would hopefully

be able to work up from there to have more screening in the schools, " she

says.

But a fundamental issue remains.

Dr. Read Sulik, a St. Cloud psychiatrist, says there aren't enough

professionals to help the children.

" We have an embarrassing, critical shortage in Minnesota, that's considered

to be one of the most progressive health care states...an embarrassing,

critical shortage of psychiatrists and particularly, child and adolescent

psychiatrists, " he says. The reason is government and insurance company

reimbursement rates.

Payment rates for cardiologists and other specialists is high enough for

them to make money. It's not, Sulik says, for pyschiatrists. The result is

few are attracted to the practice.

Minnesota Department of Human Services spokeswoman Glenace Edwall says Gov.

Pawlenty's initiative proposes higher reimbursement rates.

Edwall agrees more money is needed to supply mental health care to children

who need it. But she says the system is fractured with complicated payment

systems and very little communication among people supplying services. As

much as money, Edwall says the system needs streamlining.

" In particular, we need much better coordination across and among systems to

make things much easier for families, access easier to families, and make

sure that everybody, like the child welfare and education system, and the

mental health provider, are all reading off the same page about what is the

right thing to do with a particular and family, " she says.

Parent and mental health advocate Barbara on, a clinical social worker

and registered nurse, says the risk of not helping children who are mentally

ill is school violence or more people in our correctional system.

" Certainly, the issue is money and resources, but there is another factor

here and that's the will and willingness to work with these kids who are the

hardest kids in the schools in many cases, " she says. " Certain districts

have the leadership to take that one and others do not. "

There are some bright spots.

Mental health advocates say there seems to be broader public awareness of

the problem even if there isn't enough money to address it. There's a state

requirement that teachers each year take a refresher course on identifying

the symptoms of mental illness.

Lobbying to improve conditions seems to be more intense. The three year old

Minnesota Mental Health Action Group and a task force of 35 people are

suggesting reforms.

And parents and other advocates continue to press the case that, as the Red

Lake shootings so tragically illustrate, treating mental illness saves more

than the costs incurred by ignoring it.

[Guest guest]

I wonder which of these clowns upped Jeff Weise's Prozac to 60mgs.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/03/16/kidsafterredlake/

A year after shootings, little has changed in mental health care for kids

by Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio

March 21, 2006

The Red Lake school shootings a year ago put a spotlight on supplying

effective mental health care for Minnesota children. Jeff Weise, the

teenager who killed nine people and wounded seven others before taking his

own life, was diagnosed and treated for depression, but with questions about

the quality of his care. A year later experts say there's been no

improvement in services or access for children who need help. In fact,

advocates say, budget cuts coupled with rising demand are putting added

strain on the system.

St. , Minn. — One year after the shootings on the Red Lake reservation

and the calls it provoked for better mental health care services for

Minnesota children, Twin Cities public school social worker Anne McInerny

says there's no improvement.

" Unfortunately, I have to say I don't think they've changed at all, " she

says.

The picture one year later for Reenie Engstrom is the same. Engstrom leads a

Duluth area program which finds help for people who need mental health

services.

" There's been no change, " she says. " It feels like it's worse. I can't say

that it's worse. Maybe it's just the continued frustration that makes it

seem worse. "

State officials say more than 40,000 Minnesota school children are getting

publicly funded care for a range of emotional and mental heath conditions.

As large as the number sounds, Dr. Will Dikel says it's a fraction of those

who need the help. Dikel is a Minneapolis child and adolescent psychiatrist.

He lectures around the country and consults with school districts on ways to

deliver mental health services. Dikel says one year after the school

shootings, he's seen nothing to change the findings of a national study.

" The surgeon general's report indicated that only one out of five children

with mental health disorders gets any treatment, " he says.

Social worker Anne McInerny, who directs a Twin Cities public school mental

health program for 22 children, says the program is full. When she calls

other services seeking help for students who need more intensive help more

often than not, McInerny says, they tell her they are full, too.

" A lot of the outside community services' funding has kind of gone down and

the needs aren't being met, " she says.

At the same time, McInerny says, there's no let-up in demand. She says she

thought the rising number of children seeking help was part of a cycle that

would wind down but it hasn't.

Instead she sees an increase in the forces which experts cite as

contributing factors to mental illness in children.

" Housing and poverty and all those things seem to be getting worse and I

think the students show us that, " she says.

Nearly everyone points to school as the logical place where children who

need help should get it. But Barbara on, a Twin Cities parent of a

child with neurobiological disease says, most school staff don't have the

training to recognize mental illness when they see it.

She says parents are told, 'Your child looks fine to us. It must be

something you're doing at home that's causing this.'

When parents are believed and do get a referral to see a professional,

Reenie Engstrom in Duluth says, long waits are common.

" It is still months and months and months to get a child an appointment. It

is still often times that if a child is in crisis and taken down to our

local mental health inpatient facility they are often saying, 'Nope, the

child is not bad enough or we don't have a bed or he's not in an extreme

enough crisis,' " she says.

Part of the reason for the strain on mental health services for children is

budget cuts. The decline in state dollars started three years ago after

several years of increases.

Charlie Kyte, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of School

Administrators, social worker Anne McInerny and 33 others serve on a task

force are advising state officials how to lower barriers to mental health

care. Kyte says a lid on federal dollars is putting a strain on the system.

" Special ed funding both in the state of Minnesota and nationally has really

been capped, which is where many of the dollars would come from, " he says.

Kyte says another pot of federal dollars that counties and school districts

share for supplying children's mental health services has dried up

altogether.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's mental health initiative would restore and expand some

services. He proposes funding it in large measure with surplus dollars from

the state's health care access fund.

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, says proposals she supports in the house

and senate would put new money toward screening children.

" Kids would get help early and identified early and then we would hopefully

be able to work up from there to have more screening in the schools, " she

says.

But a fundamental issue remains.

Dr. Read Sulik, a St. Cloud psychiatrist, says there aren't enough

professionals to help the children.

" We have an embarrassing, critical shortage in Minnesota, that's considered

to be one of the most progressive health care states...an embarrassing,

critical shortage of psychiatrists and particularly, child and adolescent

psychiatrists, " he says. The reason is government and insurance company

reimbursement rates.

Payment rates for cardiologists and other specialists is high enough for

them to make money. It's not, Sulik says, for pyschiatrists. The result is

few are attracted to the practice.

Minnesota Department of Human Services spokeswoman Glenace Edwall says Gov.

Pawlenty's initiative proposes higher reimbursement rates.

Edwall agrees more money is needed to supply mental health care to children

who need it. But she says the system is fractured with complicated payment

systems and very little communication among people supplying services. As

much as money, Edwall says the system needs streamlining.

" In particular, we need much better coordination across and among systems to

make things much easier for families, access easier to families, and make

sure that everybody, like the child welfare and education system, and the

mental health provider, are all reading off the same page about what is the

right thing to do with a particular and family, " she says.

Parent and mental health advocate Barbara on, a clinical social worker

and registered nurse, says the risk of not helping children who are mentally

ill is school violence or more people in our correctional system.

" Certainly, the issue is money and resources, but there is another factor

here and that's the will and willingness to work with these kids who are the

hardest kids in the schools in many cases, " she says. " Certain districts

have the leadership to take that one and others do not. "

There are some bright spots.

Mental health advocates say there seems to be broader public awareness of

the problem even if there isn't enough money to address it. There's a state

requirement that teachers each year take a refresher course on identifying

the symptoms of mental illness.

Lobbying to improve conditions seems to be more intense. The three year old

Minnesota Mental Health Action Group and a task force of 35 people are

suggesting reforms.

And parents and other advocates continue to press the case that, as the Red

Lake shootings so tragically illustrate, treating mental illness saves more

than the costs incurred by ignoring it.

[Guest guest]

I wonder which of these clowns upped Jeff Weise's Prozac to 60mgs.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/03/16/kidsafterredlake/

A year after shootings, little has changed in mental health care for kids

by Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio

March 21, 2006

The Red Lake school shootings a year ago put a spotlight on supplying

effective mental health care for Minnesota children. Jeff Weise, the

teenager who killed nine people and wounded seven others before taking his

own life, was diagnosed and treated for depression, but with questions about

the quality of his care. A year later experts say there's been no

improvement in services or access for children who need help. In fact,

advocates say, budget cuts coupled with rising demand are putting added

strain on the system.

St. , Minn. — One year after the shootings on the Red Lake reservation

and the calls it provoked for better mental health care services for

Minnesota children, Twin Cities public school social worker Anne McInerny

says there's no improvement.

" Unfortunately, I have to say I don't think they've changed at all, " she

says.

The picture one year later for Reenie Engstrom is the same. Engstrom leads a

Duluth area program which finds help for people who need mental health

services.

" There's been no change, " she says. " It feels like it's worse. I can't say

that it's worse. Maybe it's just the continued frustration that makes it

seem worse. "

State officials say more than 40,000 Minnesota school children are getting

publicly funded care for a range of emotional and mental heath conditions.

As large as the number sounds, Dr. Will Dikel says it's a fraction of those

who need the help. Dikel is a Minneapolis child and adolescent psychiatrist.

He lectures around the country and consults with school districts on ways to

deliver mental health services. Dikel says one year after the school

shootings, he's seen nothing to change the findings of a national study.

" The surgeon general's report indicated that only one out of five children

with mental health disorders gets any treatment, " he says.

Social worker Anne McInerny, who directs a Twin Cities public school mental

health program for 22 children, says the program is full. When she calls

other services seeking help for students who need more intensive help more

often than not, McInerny says, they tell her they are full, too.

" A lot of the outside community services' funding has kind of gone down and

the needs aren't being met, " she says.

At the same time, McInerny says, there's no let-up in demand. She says she

thought the rising number of children seeking help was part of a cycle that

would wind down but it hasn't.

Instead she sees an increase in the forces which experts cite as

contributing factors to mental illness in children.

" Housing and poverty and all those things seem to be getting worse and I

think the students show us that, " she says.

Nearly everyone points to school as the logical place where children who

need help should get it. But Barbara on, a Twin Cities parent of a

child with neurobiological disease says, most school staff don't have the

training to recognize mental illness when they see it.

She says parents are told, 'Your child looks fine to us. It must be

something you're doing at home that's causing this.'

When parents are believed and do get a referral to see a professional,

Reenie Engstrom in Duluth says, long waits are common.

" It is still months and months and months to get a child an appointment. It

is still often times that if a child is in crisis and taken down to our

local mental health inpatient facility they are often saying, 'Nope, the

child is not bad enough or we don't have a bed or he's not in an extreme

enough crisis,' " she says.

Part of the reason for the strain on mental health services for children is

budget cuts. The decline in state dollars started three years ago after

several years of increases.

Charlie Kyte, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of School

Administrators, social worker Anne McInerny and 33 others serve on a task

force are advising state officials how to lower barriers to mental health

care. Kyte says a lid on federal dollars is putting a strain on the system.

" Special ed funding both in the state of Minnesota and nationally has really

been capped, which is where many of the dollars would come from, " he says.

Kyte says another pot of federal dollars that counties and school districts

share for supplying children's mental health services has dried up

altogether.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's mental health initiative would restore and expand some

services. He proposes funding it in large measure with surplus dollars from

the state's health care access fund.

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, says proposals she supports in the house

and senate would put new money toward screening children.

" Kids would get help early and identified early and then we would hopefully

be able to work up from there to have more screening in the schools, " she

says.

But a fundamental issue remains.

Dr. Read Sulik, a St. Cloud psychiatrist, says there aren't enough

professionals to help the children.

" We have an embarrassing, critical shortage in Minnesota, that's considered

to be one of the most progressive health care states...an embarrassing,

critical shortage of psychiatrists and particularly, child and adolescent

psychiatrists, " he says. The reason is government and insurance company

reimbursement rates.

Payment rates for cardiologists and other specialists is high enough for

them to make money. It's not, Sulik says, for pyschiatrists. The result is

few are attracted to the practice.

Minnesota Department of Human Services spokeswoman Glenace Edwall says Gov.

Pawlenty's initiative proposes higher reimbursement rates.

Edwall agrees more money is needed to supply mental health care to children

who need it. But she says the system is fractured with complicated payment

systems and very little communication among people supplying services. As

much as money, Edwall says the system needs streamlining.

" In particular, we need much better coordination across and among systems to

make things much easier for families, access easier to families, and make

sure that everybody, like the child welfare and education system, and the

mental health provider, are all reading off the same page about what is the

right thing to do with a particular and family, " she says.

Parent and mental health advocate Barbara on, a clinical social worker

and registered nurse, says the risk of not helping children who are mentally

ill is school violence or more people in our correctional system.

" Certainly, the issue is money and resources, but there is another factor

here and that's the will and willingness to work with these kids who are the

hardest kids in the schools in many cases, " she says. " Certain districts

have the leadership to take that one and others do not. "

There are some bright spots.

Mental health advocates say there seems to be broader public awareness of

the problem even if there isn't enough money to address it. There's a state

requirement that teachers each year take a refresher course on identifying

the symptoms of mental illness.

Lobbying to improve conditions seems to be more intense. The three year old

Minnesota Mental Health Action Group and a task force of 35 people are

suggesting reforms.

And parents and other advocates continue to press the case that, as the Red

Lake shootings so tragically illustrate, treating mental illness saves more

than the costs incurred by ignoring it.

[Guest guest]

I wonder which of these clowns upped Jeff Weise's Prozac to 60mgs.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/03/16/kidsafterredlake/

A year after shootings, little has changed in mental health care for kids

by Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio

March 21, 2006

The Red Lake school shootings a year ago put a spotlight on supplying

effective mental health care for Minnesota children. Jeff Weise, the

teenager who killed nine people and wounded seven others before taking his

own life, was diagnosed and treated for depression, but with questions about

the quality of his care. A year later experts say there's been no

improvement in services or access for children who need help. In fact,

advocates say, budget cuts coupled with rising demand are putting added

strain on the system.

St. , Minn. — One year after the shootings on the Red Lake reservation

and the calls it provoked for better mental health care services for

Minnesota children, Twin Cities public school social worker Anne McInerny

says there's no improvement.

" Unfortunately, I have to say I don't think they've changed at all, " she

says.

The picture one year later for Reenie Engstrom is the same. Engstrom leads a

Duluth area program which finds help for people who need mental health

services.

" There's been no change, " she says. " It feels like it's worse. I can't say

that it's worse. Maybe it's just the continued frustration that makes it

seem worse. "

State officials say more than 40,000 Minnesota school children are getting

publicly funded care for a range of emotional and mental heath conditions.

As large as the number sounds, Dr. Will Dikel says it's a fraction of those

who need the help. Dikel is a Minneapolis child and adolescent psychiatrist.

He lectures around the country and consults with school districts on ways to

deliver mental health services. Dikel says one year after the school

shootings, he's seen nothing to change the findings of a national study.

" The surgeon general's report indicated that only one out of five children

with mental health disorders gets any treatment, " he says.

Social worker Anne McInerny, who directs a Twin Cities public school mental

health program for 22 children, says the program is full. When she calls

other services seeking help for students who need more intensive help more

often than not, McInerny says, they tell her they are full, too.

" A lot of the outside community services' funding has kind of gone down and

the needs aren't being met, " she says.

At the same time, McInerny says, there's no let-up in demand. She says she

thought the rising number of children seeking help was part of a cycle that

would wind down but it hasn't.

Instead she sees an increase in the forces which experts cite as

contributing factors to mental illness in children.

" Housing and poverty and all those things seem to be getting worse and I

think the students show us that, " she says.

Nearly everyone points to school as the logical place where children who

need help should get it. But Barbara on, a Twin Cities parent of a

child with neurobiological disease says, most school staff don't have the

training to recognize mental illness when they see it.

She says parents are told, 'Your child looks fine to us. It must be

something you're doing at home that's causing this.'

When parents are believed and do get a referral to see a professional,

Reenie Engstrom in Duluth says, long waits are common.

" It is still months and months and months to get a child an appointment. It

is still often times that if a child is in crisis and taken down to our

local mental health inpatient facility they are often saying, 'Nope, the

child is not bad enough or we don't have a bed or he's not in an extreme

enough crisis,' " she says.

Part of the reason for the strain on mental health services for children is

budget cuts. The decline in state dollars started three years ago after

several years of increases.

Charlie Kyte, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of School

Administrators, social worker Anne McInerny and 33 others serve on a task

force are advising state officials how to lower barriers to mental health

care. Kyte says a lid on federal dollars is putting a strain on the system.

" Special ed funding both in the state of Minnesota and nationally has really

been capped, which is where many of the dollars would come from, " he says.

Kyte says another pot of federal dollars that counties and school districts

share for supplying children's mental health services has dried up

altogether.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's mental health initiative would restore and expand some

services. He proposes funding it in large measure with surplus dollars from

the state's health care access fund.

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, says proposals she supports in the house

and senate would put new money toward screening children.

" Kids would get help early and identified early and then we would hopefully

be able to work up from there to have more screening in the schools, " she

says.

But a fundamental issue remains.

Dr. Read Sulik, a St. Cloud psychiatrist, says there aren't enough

professionals to help the children.

" We have an embarrassing, critical shortage in Minnesota, that's considered

to be one of the most progressive health care states...an embarrassing,

critical shortage of psychiatrists and particularly, child and adolescent

psychiatrists, " he says. The reason is government and insurance company

reimbursement rates.

Payment rates for cardiologists and other specialists is high enough for

them to make money. It's not, Sulik says, for pyschiatrists. The result is

few are attracted to the practice.

Minnesota Department of Human Services spokeswoman Glenace Edwall says Gov.

Pawlenty's initiative proposes higher reimbursement rates.

Edwall agrees more money is needed to supply mental health care to children

who need it. But she says the system is fractured with complicated payment

systems and very little communication among people supplying services. As

much as money, Edwall says the system needs streamlining.

" In particular, we need much better coordination across and among systems to

make things much easier for families, access easier to families, and make

sure that everybody, like the child welfare and education system, and the

mental health provider, are all reading off the same page about what is the

right thing to do with a particular and family, " she says.

Parent and mental health advocate Barbara on, a clinical social worker

and registered nurse, says the risk of not helping children who are mentally

ill is school violence or more people in our correctional system.

" Certainly, the issue is money and resources, but there is another factor

here and that's the will and willingness to work with these kids who are the

hardest kids in the schools in many cases, " she says. " Certain districts

have the leadership to take that one and others do not. "

There are some bright spots.

Mental health advocates say there seems to be broader public awareness of

the problem even if there isn't enough money to address it. There's a state

requirement that teachers each year take a refresher course on identifying

the symptoms of mental illness.

Lobbying to improve conditions seems to be more intense. The three year old

Minnesota Mental Health Action Group and a task force of 35 people are

suggesting reforms.

And parents and other advocates continue to press the case that, as the Red

Lake shootings so tragically illustrate, treating mental illness saves more

than the costs incurred by ignoring it.