Childrens' Mental Health

Health Care for All has information on the Childrens' Mental Health Campaign in Masschusetts. I urge all mental health professionals to read the latest updates on reforming mental health delivery and services to children in Massachusetts. Their website is: www.hcfa.org.

It is important that we as mental health professionals speak up on what our concerns are regarding the above issue. Your voices need to be heard by your state legislators.

It would be interesting to find out what the statewide chapters for mental health professionals and social workers are doing to support this legislation.

Robbin Miller, LMHC
Moderator
Advocate

New Presecreening tool in Mass

Doctors are getting paid $ 18.00 per client to assess children from mental health issues. This new regulation is result of the Rosie D vs Romney cases in Massachusetts that calls for reforming mental health services for stuck kids and for those children who need outpatient services. While it is a good first step to have a prescreening tool to evaluate for mental health needs, there is still the problem of the shortage of qualified mental health clinicians to serve these children. While the change to increase reimbursements and to change the inequitable productivity requirement will take five years to implement, some of these childrens' mental health needs will not be served.

What you can do to promote change for our profession are the following:

1) Write letters to the editor to promote swift changes in increased reimbursements and different and creative ways to pay for mental health services that are not insurance dependent.

2) Write emails on advocacy listservs such as for parents with children with special needs to ask them to promote the above changes.

3) Speak out publicly on how you feel about five year wait for change for mental health services is ridiculous and will hurt children accessing services.