The Council for Exceptional Children will host an “Institute on School-based Mental Health and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports” prior to its annual convention in Denver in April 2012. Readers of EBD Blog understand the importance of MH and its connections with schools for many students. This session, chaired by Krista Kutash and George Sugai, promises to help educators make and strengthen appropriate connections. Learn more about building positive bridges between mental health and positive school environments.
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The Campaign for Children’s Mental Health outlined an agenda for improving mental health policy for children and youths in the US commonwealth of Virginia on 14 June 2011. The “Action Agenda” expresses the need for Govenor Bob McDonnell to exert leadership in three policy areas so that the problems of 100,000 minors with mental health issues are addressed:
- Children with mental health disorders and their families need to have a full array of high quality treatment and support services in their own communities, no matter where in Virginia they reside.
- Children with serious mental health disorders who require public sector services need to have access to the same array of services regardless of payment source or custody status in order to maximize the impact of and curb inappropriate use of public dollars in the treatment system.
- Children with mental health disorders and their families should be recognized and included as experts on their own and their children’s treatment needs.
Visit the 1 in 5 Website (see it over in the sidebar, too) and download the full statement of the Action Agenda.
I am very glad to have and I hope others will join me in signing a petition to support this effort. Isn’t it great to have this effort right here in Virginia? Do you have similar efforts in the area where you live?
Sphere: Related ContentSadly, mental health has been in the US news of late. I’m reminded that in the US legislature there is the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, which takes as its goals reducing negativism and stigma, aiding efforts to access mental health services, improving work-related productivity, and protecting veterans who have mental health problems. Although the caucus does not explicitly state child mental health as a focus of concern, it has supported awareness efforts such as National Children’s Mental Health Day.
Continue reading ‘The Congressional Mental Health Caucus’
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to the producer of a product that is sometimes used by people hoping to eliminate heavy metals from children’s bodies (e.g., chelate mercury from children with autism). In a letter addressed to Boyd D. Haley of CTI Science Inc., Teresa C. Thompson of the Cincinnati District Office of the FDA cited a host of problems in the classification and marketing of the product, OSR#1. Among these problems are the following:
Continue reading ‘FDA warns seller of chelation product’
Thanks to a comment by reader DrFoo (AKA ‘Rollen’), I was alerted to an interesting study about variation in the rates of Autism in different ethnic populations. The news releases say that the incidence of Autism among Hispanics is lower than it is among non-Hispanic white peers.
These news releases refer to a study entitled “Explaining Low Rates of Autism Among Hispanic Schoolchildren in Texas” by Raymond Palmer and colleagues. Here’s the abstract:
In data from the Texas Educational Agency and the Health Resources and Services Administration, we found fewer autism diagnoses in school districts with higher percentages of Hispanic children. Our results are consistent with previous reports of autism rates 2 to 3 times as high among non-Hispanic Whites as among Hispanics. Socioeconomic factors failed to explain lower autism prevalence among Hispanic schoolchildren in Texas. These findings raise questions: Is autism underdiagnosed among Hispanics? Are there protective factors associated with Hispanic ethnicity?
I’ve not had time to examine the issue closely, but I have a few links:
- From US TV ABC: Texas Study Confirms Lower Autism Rate in Hispanics
- From Reuters: Texas study confirms lower autism rate in Hispanics
The full citation is close to what follows…
Palmer, R. F., Walker, T., Mandell, D., Bayles, B., Miller, C. S. (2009). Explaining low rates of autism among Hispanic schoolchildren in Texas. American Journal of Public Health, 100, pp-to-come. 10.2105/AJPH.2008.150565
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| Twelve key children’s services for community services boards |
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Right here in my home commonwealth of Virginia last week, Mira Signe, Vicki Hardy-Murrell, John Morgan, and Margaret Nimmo Crowe explained why it is important that government and private organizations attend to and address issues in children’s mental health. By explaining that Virginia has inadequate services and that one in every five children or youths experience mental health problems at some time during their lives, they made the point that that there is a tremendous need for public focus on these issues. This was the kick-off event for the Campaign for Children’s Mental Health.
The Campaign for Children’s Mental Health is a 3-year sustained effort to make mental health services more available and accessible to Virginia children in need. It will strongly endorse Governor-elect McDonnell’s call for system improvements; urge the General Assembly and state and local government to work collaboratively with the administration to address system deficiencies; and conduct a high-profile three-year advocacy and education drive to build public and political support for improved mental health services for children.
Only about one in 20 of Virginia’s children have access to the key services listed in the accompanying box. So, four out of five children who need these services do not have access to them.
No, Virginia, this is not an acceptable way to treat our children. Let’s do better.
- Down load the press release (source of the excerpt quoted here).
- Read coverage in these newspapers:
- Lynchburg News and Advance—Coalition pushes mental-health care for children
- Washington Examiner&mdash:Advocates start bid to expand children’s mental health services under bleak budget;
- Richmond Times Dispatch— Coalition advocate mental-health care for children
- Washington Post (blog)—New coalition has AG’s support for mental health reforms
- Visit (and support) the Web site of the Campaign for Children’s Mental Health.
- Download pdfs of “Survey of Community Services Board Child and Adolescent Services” and “Review of Community Services Board Child and Adolescent Services“; these are report by James W. Stewart, Inspector General for Virginia’s Mental Health, Mental Retardation & Substance Abuse Services (now called Behavioral Health and Development Services). The list of key services comes from these reports;
- Visit the Facebook page;
- Listen to a brief (3+ min) interview with Ms. Crowe from WMRA: Pushing for Children’s Mental Health Reform.
Drawing on the data collected as a part of the US National Survey of Children’s Health, Michael Kogan and colleagues estimated that slightly greater than 1% of children have Autism. The survey asked parents whether a doctor or other health-care provider had said that a child had Autism and the child currently had the condition; the point-prevalence was 110 per 10,000 for Autism Spectrum Disorder. The survey, which is a part of the regular US Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), asked questions of 78,037 parents.
Continue reading ‘Autism prevalence > 1%?’
An individual who goes by the screen name C0nc0rdance posted a pair of videos to YouTube on 1 October 2009 that make a clear and compelling case for ignoring ill-reasoned arguments recommending that parents avoid vaccinating their children.
When we make risky decisions about our health, it’s always good to be in possession of all the facts, to let our brains, and not our hearts, make the decision. Your child is thousands of times more likely to die from a preventable disease you didn’t vaccinate them against than to develop autism from a vaccine you did give them. The case for autism and vaccines is solely based on weak correlations and emotional responses.
Continue reading ‘C0nc0rdance’s anti-vax takedown’
Sphere: Related ContentOver on Science-Based Medicine, John Snyder has an extended post that systematically analyzes the assertions of Robert Sears about vaccinating children. The title is “Cashing In On Fear: The Danger of Dr. Sears.” Highly recommended.
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Summer in the US finds children and youths out of school and, perhaps, less vulnerable to some of the problems that are associated with the social and academic demands that are part of schooling. As a result, perhaps fewer of the familiar problems illustrated in this poster are apparent during summer.
If summer seems like a relief from such problems, though, that could be an important indicator that those very problems need to be addressed. A few weeks away from school probably will not cure them. Those same difficulties may still be occurring, just less obviously, and they are likely to recur soon.
Individuals or the families of children who experience the kinds of problems noted in the poster should consult the resources available from the US government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. One will not find easy cures there, but by carefully perusing the resources available one can learn what signs to monitor and where to go to get help.
The image is hot. Click it to get to a good starting place.
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Even though many schools in the US have closed for the summer or are about to do so, I want to remind folks that this is not a good time to take a break from considering the mental health needs of children and youth. Although they are likely to wax and wane over time, mental health problems don’t take many vacations.
Learn more about US resources for individual children and youths who have emotional and behavioral disorders by surfing the rich resources assembled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Although some of the materials may be a tad out of date (e.g., prevalence figures have been updated for some disorders such as Autism), there are still plenty of valuable materials available from SAMHSA.
Go there! Compare what you see learn there with what’s available at other trustworthy sites. Learn what to do and from whom help is available.
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