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SpecialEdLaw.net E-Newsletter

January 3, 2001

SURGEON GENERAL ISSUES REPORT:

" NATIONAL ACTION AGENDA ON CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH "

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Satcher, MD, PhD, Assistant Secretary for Health

and Surgeon General, today released a National Action Agenda for

Children's Mental Health, which outlines goals and strategies to improve

the services for children and adolescents with mental health problems and

their families.

According to the report, the nation is facing a public crisis in mental

health for children and adolescents. In the United States, 1 in 10

children and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause

some level of impairment. Yet, in any given year, it is estimated that

fewer than 1 in 5 of these children receives needed treatment. The

long-term consequences of untreated childhood disorders are costly, in

both human and fiscal terms.

" This report provides a blueprint for change, " said Dr. Satcher, " and

presents an overarching vision aimed at fostering social and emotional

health in children. The burden of suffering by children with mental health

needs and their families has created a health crisis in this country.

Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their

emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs are not being met by the

very institutions and systems that were created to take care of them. "

The National Action Agenda identifies eight goals and multiple action

steps, which include promoting public awareness of children's mental

health issues, reducing the stigma associated with mental illness, and

improving the assessment and recognition of mental health needs in

children.

According to the Report:

* Pediatricians treat most affected children and report difficulty

referring serious patients to mental health specialists, including

appointment waits of three to four months.

* Some communities offer no child mental health services at all.

* In one study, some children with emotional disorders didn't get proper

school services until age 10.

* Just as for adults, insurance coverage for children's mental health is

spotty. Advocates told of parents who relinquished custody so their

children could receive welfare-funded therapy.

* One juvenile detention center study found that more than two-thirds of

detainees had a psychiatric disorder. Yet the juvenile justice system

seldom screens children for treatable illnesses.

For a copy of the Surgeon General's National Action Agenda for Children's

Mental Health, go to: http://www.specialedlaw.net.

© Copyright, 2001 - Stinson Law Associates, P.C. & Center for Education

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