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David DeMaso, MD, Psychiatrist-in-Chief |
Question: Access to mental health care for children is an issue always in the news. What is Children's doing to address this problem?
Answer: In Massachusetts, more than 140,000 young people are in need of mental health services, but at least 100,000 don't receive them. Many families struggle to access care, find the most effective treatments and navigate the mental health system. Our Department of Psychiatry is tackling these issues head on.
First, we're expanding access to services outside the hospital walls through the Children's Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships (CHNP) program, which provides care and support to children in the settings where they spend most of their time: neighborhoods and schools. CHNP's child psychiatrists and mental health clinicians are working in eight Head Start programs, 13 Boston schools and six community health centers, reaching more than 5,000 children, parents and caregivers.
In addition, research plays a huge part in discovering which mental health treatments are most effective. Psychiatry established the Center for Behavioral Sciences (CBS) to generate research that will impact the emotional, behavioral and social health of children and families. The CBS is working through its Youth Centered Suicide Prevention program to connect high school peer leaders with mental health clinicians to support at-risk adolescents in schools. As a result, 15 percent of students in two Boston high schools have had significant reductions in depression and aggressive behaviors following interventions from this federally funded program.
Finally, Children's is taking steps to improve families' access to mental health services. The hospital is a lead partner in the Children's Mental Health Campaign, a coalition of 125 organizations that aims to pass legislation that will fix issues in the mental health system. This bill ensures early routine screenings, enhances coordination of services and collaboration among providers, and improves insurance coverage. The bill received overwhelming support from the senate and will likely become law.
To find out more, visit childrenshospital.org/mentalhealthcampaign.
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Got a question? Email news@childrens.harvard.edu.
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