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Moore votes to improve children’s mental health services
Senate seeks to advance early identification of mental illness July 16, 2008 ... On Tuesday, Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, and his colleagues in the Senate, approved legislation to improve the early identification of children with mental illnesses by reaching them in familiar settings, such as pediatrician offices, early education programs and schools. “Children are consistently overlooked in the realm of mental health”, said Sen. Moore, who is Chairman of the Committee on Health Care is Financing, and a co-sponsor of the legislation. “This bill establishes a strong, coherent approach to addressing the significant numbers of children that have mental health illnesses, and will also ensure that the proper services are available to those afflicted.” Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, said early diagnosis and extended services are critical to avoiding unintended tragedies and helping more than 100,000 Massachusetts children who are currently not receiving the care they need. “We must reduce the number of children who are falling through the cracks in our mental health care system,” the Senate President said. “This legislation will help reduce suicides and other hardships brought on by mental illness and ensure that these children have the best opportunity for a healthy, productive future.” The bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Brighton, said: “There are far too many of the Commonwealth’s children living with undiagnosed or untreated mental illness. These children and their families have to struggle with a fragmented system to receive the services they desperately need. This bill will streamline the agencies responsible for their care and maximize each child’s overall outcome. Most importantly it will provide them with much needed support and assistance.” The bill seeks to increase pediatric screenings for mental illness and require the Department of Early Education and Care to provide behavioral health consultations. The legislation would also promote consultation services in schools to help teachers and administrators better identify mental health issues. The bill also restructures how the Commonwealth oversees, provides and coordinates services by:
The bill also grants the Division of Insurance the authority to regulate behavioral health manager companies and requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to implement new policies and procedures to ensure that children do not remain in hospitals past the necessary amount of time, and instead making sure that they are efficiently moved to appropriate residential facilities or community-based settings. The Senate passed the bill in memory of 16-year-old Yolanda Torres, who struggled with mental illness and became an advocate for children’s mental health services. Torres’ adoptive mother, Mary Ann Tufts of Plymouth, is a leading advocate for this legislation. This bill will now go to the House of Representatives. |
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