Yesterday in the Globe- reminded me how long it takes to get anything done.
Summit focuses on children’s mental health By Patricia Wen
December 13, 2011
It was billed as the Children’s Mental Health Summit, the second in a decade, and its organizers hoped it would inspire as much passion for reform as the debut gathering did in 2001. Among the issues addressed by top officials in Boston yesterday were the high rate of psychotropic drugs consumed by the state’s foster children, poor insurance coverage of family-based services, and the relatively high percentage of substance abuse among Massachusetts teens. The keynote speaker, Pamela Hyde, an Obama appointee who heads the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also spoke about the growing awareness that trauma -- including domestic strife, neighborhood violence, and bullying -- undermines children’s mental well-being.…The closing talk came from US District Court Judge Michael Ponsor, who issued the 2006 landmark ruling, referred to as the Rosie D. case, which required the state to offer intensive home-based mental health services for children on Medicaid with serious emotional disturbances. “Serving the needs of children with mental health problems, especially poor children, is not for the faint of heart, or for people overly fond of cheap thrills and immediate gratification,” Ponsor said in his written remarks. “It is a very long-term commitment.”
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