Dear Executive Office of Health and Human Services:
Thank you for providing me this opportunity to email you my testimony for the Division of Youth, Children and Families. My testimony will focus on the new mental health law for children. I appeal to your office to seriously consider reimbursing clinicians in private practice and in mental health clinics who administer the CANS (Children and Adolescent Needs Strength Scale) instrument to children following the initial diagnostics.
As it stands, many clinicians who have taken the training for the CANS are concerned and not motivated to give the CANS to their clients due to lack of nonpayment in subsequent sessions. We feel our time is valuable and needs to be respected in paying us for this service. If Doctors' offices are reimbursed for administering their assessment tool for evaluating mental health issues for children and adolescents, then mental health clinicians with masters degrees and above need to also get paid.
The second item I wish to discuss is reimbursing for no-shows for clients (under twenty one years old) in non-profit mental health clinics. As it stands, clinicians don't get paid for no-shows. As a result, many have leaving the field to pursue other jobs that value their time and service in the counseling profession. There is all ready a shortage of qualified clinicians to treat children with mental health issues. I feel it would be prudent to have incentives and safeguards in place to retain clinicians in their jobs so these children can be served. In summary, mental health professionals needs to be reimbursed for their service and time in treating children with mental health needs.
Respectfully submitted,
Robbin Miller, LMHC
Advocate/Clinician
No comments:
Post a Comment