January 2007
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Mental Health reform in Mass.
It's estimated that 100,000 Massachusetts children and adolescents don't receive the mental health care services they need. To address this significant public health challenge, Children's Hospital Boston has joined with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) and Health Care for All (HCFA) to launch a long-term campaign to advocate for major reform of the state's mental health care system. The campaign kicked off with a press conference at the State House November 28, where leaders released a report recommending changes. The report, "Children's Mental Health in the Commonwealth: The Time is Now," co-authored by Children's and the MSPCC, is online at www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.
The organizations are collaborating with HCFA's Children's Health Access Coalition, which plans to file legislation this month. "The stakes are very high, and we are confident that the legislature and Governor-elect Patrick will act," says David DeMaso, MD, Children's chief of Psychiatry. "Too many kids are falling through the cracks in our mental health care system, and the consequences for these children and their families can be devastating."
