Kind of cool to be quoted. Thanks, TeenScreen.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
From the Boston Globe : Kinda wish I had been there.
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.”
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Larry's Webinar is on the Web
As primary care providers incorporate adolescent mental health care into practice, Common Factors may hold solutions to successfully taking on the challenge. An approach that emphasizes provider/parent interaction over the need for diagnoses and specific treatments, Common Factors can have a powerful impact on provider training, confidence and outcomes.
Common Factors focuses on the process of care, and emphasizes the characteristics and interactions of providers, parents and others -- nurse practitioners, office staff, school health personnel -- in influencing patient behavior and improving outcomes. It challenges the need for a diagnosis and specific treatment for each patient, and instead maintains that therapies can be designed to help broad classes of people.
Common Factors expert Larry Wissow, MD, Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discussed incorporating Common Factors principals into adolescent mental health care. Click here if you want to hear it.
Common Factors focuses on the process of care, and emphasizes the characteristics and interactions of providers, parents and others -- nurse practitioners, office staff, school health personnel -- in influencing patient behavior and improving outcomes. It challenges the need for a diagnosis and specific treatment for each patient, and instead maintains that therapies can be designed to help broad classes of people.
Common Factors expert Larry Wissow, MD, Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discussed incorporating Common Factors principals into adolescent mental health care. Click here if you want to hear it.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Rethinking Adolescent Mental Health Care: Using Common Factors to Improve Your Practice Potential
A TeenScreen National Center Webinar Event
With
Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Principal Investigator, NIMH-funded Center for Mental Health in Pediatric Primary Care
December 8, 2011
1:00-2:00 ET
As primary care providers incorporate adolescent mental health care into practice, Common Factors may hold solutions to successfully taking on the challenge. An approach that emphasizes provider/parent interaction over the need for diagnoses and specific treatments, Common Factors can have a powerful impact on provider training, confidence and outcomes.
Common Factors focuses on the process of care, and emphasizes the characteristics and interactions of providers, parents and others -- nurse practitioners, office staff, school health personnel -- in influencing patient behavior and improving outcomes. It challenges the need for a diagnosis and specific treatment for each patient, and instead maintains that therapies can be designed to help broad classes of people.
Join Common Factors expert Larry Wissow, MD, Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, for a practical discussion on incorporating Common Factors principals into adolescent mental health care.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Experts Convene on Capitol Hill to Discuss Models of Integrated Care for Youth: Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project Highlighted
From TeenScreen (love to be quoted)
Washington, D.C. - National experts in delivering integrated behavioral and physical health care to adolescents presented three different models of service delivery to this vulnerable population in a Capitol Hill forum. The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP) was highlighted as one national model that bridges the significant gap between the need for specialty mental health services and access to those services.
The TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University convened the forum, “Bridging the Gap through Innovation: Expanding Access to Mental Health Services,” on Nov. 16. This was the third annual Eric Trendell Health Policy Forum. Dr. David Keller described how he and his colleagues in Massachusetts have filled the behavioral health service gap through MCPAP, providing vital services to over 6,000 children in the state. “Before we started MCPAP in 2005, I had few, if any, resources for dealing with these issues. As a general pediatrician practicing in Worchester, MA, I saw perhaps 30 or 40 patients per day,” said Dr. Keller. “At least 30 percent of these children had mental health problems. Like so many of my colleagues trained in pediatrics, I was not trained extensively in child psychiatry.”
Washington, D.C. - National experts in delivering integrated behavioral and physical health care to adolescents presented three different models of service delivery to this vulnerable population in a Capitol Hill forum. The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP) was highlighted as one national model that bridges the significant gap between the need for specialty mental health services and access to those services.
The TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University convened the forum, “Bridging the Gap through Innovation: Expanding Access to Mental Health Services,” on Nov. 16. This was the third annual Eric Trendell Health Policy Forum. Dr. David Keller described how he and his colleagues in Massachusetts have filled the behavioral health service gap through MCPAP, providing vital services to over 6,000 children in the state. “Before we started MCPAP in 2005, I had few, if any, resources for dealing with these issues. As a general pediatrician practicing in Worchester, MA, I saw perhaps 30 or 40 patients per day,” said Dr. Keller. “At least 30 percent of these children had mental health problems. Like so many of my colleagues trained in pediatrics, I was not trained extensively in child psychiatry.”
“MCPAP has changed all that,” he said. “It is comprised of six centers throughout Massachusetts led by a psychiatrist and each linked to an academic health center. Individual primary care doctors and pediatricians are able to enhance their services through MCPAP tutorials in child psychiatry and consultation with specialists,” Dr. Keller said.
Through MCPAP, doctors are assured of a telephone consultation with a psychiatrist about a specific patient, usually within an hour, or immediately, if the situation demands. Dr. Keller said that 26 other states are exploring establishing a MCPAP like system to meet the growing demand for mental health care for children and adolescents.
“We have created virtual, integrated care teams so that all of the children and adolescents in Massachusetts have access to the behavioral and mental health care they may require,” said Dr. Keller.
“Integrating behavioral health into primary care is a game changer,” said A. Seiji Hayashi, MD, MPH, and Chief Medical Officer, Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration, and a panelist. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is working to strengthen the Medicaid and Medicare programs by looking to innovative forms of service delivery. Barbara Edwards, a director at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and a panelist said, “The models of integrated care discussed today present important ways forward as we look to design and support methods of bringing health and mental care to children.”
TeenScreen Executive Director Laurie Flynn, said: “The movement to integrate behavioral health into primary care brings a vital benefit to adolescents. We know that up to half of all visits to pediatricians involve a behavioral, emotional or mental issue. We also know that half of all mental disorders begin by age fourteen. Innovative, integrated care models have demonstrated that we can expand mental health care to youth, bringing this vital dimension of medicine to their medical homes.”
Other forum panelists detailed their unique experiences with leading innovations such as co-located care; telepsychiatry; fostering collaboration between primary care physicians and child psychiatrists; the development of patient-centered medical homes; and the adoption of electronic medical health records.
The 2011 Eric Trendell Health Policy Forum Panel:
- Greg V. Jensen, LSCW, ACSW, Vice President for Behavioral Health Services at Lone Star Circle of Care
- Steven Adelsheim, MD, Director, Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health and Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, & Family/Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico, Department of Psychiatry
- David Keller, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Senior Analyst, Center for Health Policy and Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
- A.Seiji Hayashi, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration
- Barbara Edwards, Director, Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid, CHIP and Survey and Certification at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), a sponsor of the forum, said, “I’m proud to support the cause of improving mental health services for our children and teens. From my own childhood, I recognize how critical it is to help our youth weather the tough circumstances that can come early in life.”
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), a sponsor of the forum, said, “We have a moral obligation to help young people from every background and ethnicity with the support they need to overcome and deal with depression and suicidal tendencies.”
“We have created virtual, integrated care teams so that all of the children and adolescents in Massachusetts have access to the behavioral and mental health care they may require,” said Dr. Keller.
“Integrating behavioral health into primary care is a game changer,” said A. Seiji Hayashi, MD, MPH, and Chief Medical Officer, Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration, and a panelist. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is working to strengthen the Medicaid and Medicare programs by looking to innovative forms of service delivery. Barbara Edwards, a director at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and a panelist said, “The models of integrated care discussed today present important ways forward as we look to design and support methods of bringing health and mental care to children.”
TeenScreen Executive Director Laurie Flynn, said: “The movement to integrate behavioral health into primary care brings a vital benefit to adolescents. We know that up to half of all visits to pediatricians involve a behavioral, emotional or mental issue. We also know that half of all mental disorders begin by age fourteen. Innovative, integrated care models have demonstrated that we can expand mental health care to youth, bringing this vital dimension of medicine to their medical homes.”
Other forum panelists detailed their unique experiences with leading innovations such as co-located care; telepsychiatry; fostering collaboration between primary care physicians and child psychiatrists; the development of patient-centered medical homes; and the adoption of electronic medical health records.
The 2011 Eric Trendell Health Policy Forum Panel:
- Greg V. Jensen, LSCW, ACSW, Vice President for Behavioral Health Services at Lone Star Circle of Care
- Steven Adelsheim, MD, Director, Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health and Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, & Family/Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico, Department of Psychiatry
- David Keller, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Senior Analyst, Center for Health Policy and Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
- A.Seiji Hayashi, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration
- Barbara Edwards, Director, Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid, CHIP and Survey and Certification at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), a sponsor of the forum, said, “I’m proud to support the cause of improving mental health services for our children and teens. From my own childhood, I recognize how critical it is to help our youth weather the tough circumstances that can come early in life.”
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), a sponsor of the forum, said, “We have a moral obligation to help young people from every background and ethnicity with the support they need to overcome and deal with depression and suicidal tendencies.”
To view videos of remarks by the panelist, please visit:
The TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University is a
non-profit public health initiative and national policy center devoted to increasing youth
access to regular mental health checkups.
Friday, April 15, 2011
More Webinars: We're famous, you know...
TeenScreen National Center Upcoming Webinar
High-Performance Model: How One State Improved Youth Mental Health Care By Helping Providers
Thursday, April 27, 2011
2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
The issues were familiar: Mental health challenges in youth on the rise, a limited number of specialists, and a primary care community working to fill the gap.
Click here for the full event details and description.
John Straus, MD and Barry Sarvet, MD of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership will describe the MCPAP program, its role in supporting providers following the Rosie D decision, and how building and sustaining a partnership between primary care and mental health clinicians can help transform youth mental health care.
Please click here to register or copy and paste the below link:
https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=302803&sessionid=1&key=A1D6E523085B441CAFA921B2E21E113A&sourcepage=register
High-Performance Model: How One State Improved Youth Mental Health Care By Helping Providers
Thursday, April 27, 2011
2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
The issues were familiar: Mental health challenges in youth on the rise, a limited number of specialists, and a primary care community working to fill the gap.
Click here for the full event details and description.
John Straus, MD and Barry Sarvet, MD of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership will describe the MCPAP program, its role in supporting providers following the Rosie D decision, and how building and sustaining a partnership between primary care and mental health clinicians can help transform youth mental health care.
Please click here to register or copy and paste the below link:
https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=302803&sessionid=1&key=A1D6E523085B441CAFA921B2E21E113A&sourcepage=register
From the Children's Mental Health Campaign
From my INBOX this morning:
- The CBHI line item was funded at $214.7 million which is the same level as the Governor’s budget.
- The language on reporting requirements for the CBHI line item was included but not in the Governor’s budget.
- The DMH child and adolescent mental health services line item was level funded at $71.4 million from FY11, this is a $2 million increase over the Governor’s budget.
- The mental health consultative services line item under EEC was level funded from FY11 at $750K which also matched the Governor’s budget.
Representative Ruth Balser will file the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP) legislation as an outside section to the budget at the request of the CMHC.
This would act as a revenue stream for the Commonwealth during these difficult financial times as well as a workforce development program.
MCPAP is run as an “insurance blind” program and is currently funded solely by the Commonwealth. However data collected on participants includes insurance coverage. This data reveals that more than half of those served have commercial coverage.
The goal of MCPAP is to make child psychiatry services universally accessible to primary care providers (PCPs) throughout the Commonwealth who can access a team of child psychiatrists, psychologists and/or social workers via telephone consultation in order to diagnose and treat mental health disorders.
This outside section would requires commercial health insurance companies to proportionally contribute to the funding of the MCPAP at a rate equal to the participation of their membership. This will generate nearly $1.8 million per year to contribute to the cost of the program. Surplus revenue will be directed toward implementation of MCPAP in schools where administrators and teachers struggle daily to deal appropriately and effectively with children showing signs of mental health conditions.
Please CLICK HERE for more information and ask your State Representative today to sign on as a co-sponsor here.
Thank you,
Erin G. Bradley
Coordinator, CMHC
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Webinars today
Why does all of the good stuff happen at once?
Please join us for a free webinar on Thursday, April 14, from 1:00 - 2:30pm, entitled: "Behavioral Health Integration in the Medical Home and Its Facilitation by Health Information Technology." This informative presentation is co-sponsored by the PCPCC Center for eHealth Information Adoption and Exchange and the Behavioral Health Task Force and will feature Drs. Rodger Kessler and Timothy Burdick from Fletcher Allen Health Care at the University of Vermont.
Connect on the web at: http://connect.johnshopkins.edu/pediatricmentalhealth/
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From the Patient Center Primary Care Collaborative:Please join us for a free webinar on Thursday, April 14, from 1:00 - 2:30pm, entitled: "Behavioral Health Integration in the Medical Home and Its Facilitation by Health Information Technology." This informative presentation is co-sponsored by the PCPCC Center for eHealth Information Adoption and Exchange and the Behavioral Health Task Force and will feature Drs. Rodger Kessler and Timothy Burdick from Fletcher Allen Health Care at the University of Vermont.
More info here.
From the Center for Mental Health Services in Primary Care:
"The Scope of a Federal Mandate for Providing Behavioral Health Services to Children: The Rosie D. Case"
Are children entitled under the law to mental health services?
From the Center for Mental Health Services in Primary Care:
"The Scope of a Federal Mandate for Providing Behavioral Health Services to Children: The Rosie D. Case"
Are children entitled under the law to mental health services?
Please join us for a free webinar on Thursday, April 14, from 1:00 - 2:30pm. Deborah Agus, JD, will discuss the Rosie D. Case and the subsequent mandate for behavioral health care for children in Massachusetts as well as the implications for other states.
Connect on the web at: http://connect.johnshopkins.edu/pediatricmentalhealth/
Contact slongway@jhsph.edu for dial-in information
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
A request from SAMSHA
Here's an opportunity to have input into Federal policy on mental health. Go for it.
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The block grant funds will be directed to four purposes:
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SAMHSA Is Seeking Comments on a New Unified Application for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Block Grants
SAMHSA announces a new approach for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SAPTBG) and the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHSBG). Under this new approach, the grant applications will merge, providing states and territories the opportunity to use block grant dollars for prevention, recovery supports, and other services that supplement services covered by Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance.The block grant funds will be directed to four purposes:
- Fund priority treatment and support services for individuals without insurance or for whom coverage is terminated for short periods of time.
- Fund those priority treatment and support services that demonstrate success in improving outcomes and/or supporting recovery for low-income individuals and are not covered by Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance.
- Fund primary prevention—universal, selective, and indicated prevention activities and services for persons not yet identified as needing treatment.
- Collect performance and outcome data to determine the ongoing effectiveness of behavioral health promotion, treatment, and recovery support services and plan the implementation of new services on a nationwide basis.
Click here to find out more.
Monday, April 4, 2011
AHRQ has much cool stuff:ASD review
Given that this is the month to think on autism, this message from AHRQ seemed worth reposting:
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care (EHC) Program is pleased to announce that the following research review is now available:
- Therapies for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders.
To access the research review and associated products, please visit: http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/search-for-guides-reviews-and-reports/?pageaction=displayproduct&productid=651.
An article on this report has been published in the journal Pediatrics. The abstract for this article can be accessed at:http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2011-0426v1.
Learn how you can personalize your interactions with and share what you learn on the EHC Program Web site. Visit:http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/personalization-and-social-media-tools/.
We welcome your comments on the EHC Program Web site! Please use our “Contact Us” form available at:http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/contact-the-effective-health-care-program/.
Thank you,
Effective Health Care Program
www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Upcoming Conference for folks interested in System Change
Future of Pediatrics Conference
Embracing Change: Improving the Health of ALL Children
Chicago, Illinois
July 29-31, 2011
http://www.pedialink.org/cmefinder/search-detail.cfm?key=65511D4A-EB04-46D9-BFCD-ECA9E84F4A7C&type=event&grp=1&task=details
Register by June 29, 2011 for Early Bird Rates!
What is the Future of Pediatrics Conference?
With the overall goal of improving child and adolescent health, this conference blends cutting-edge updates on clinical and practice management topics with strategies for advancing medical homes and building partnerships within communities. Learners will apply principles of team-based care, change management, and co-management between pediatric specialists and primary care, to achieve a goal of improving the health of all children. A variety of educational formats will be utilized, including interactive, roundtable, and networking sessions, to provide learners with opportunities to develop innovative, enduring partnerships and transform their practices.
Who Should Attend?
• Pediatricians in Primary Care Practice
• Community Pediatricians
• Faculty in General and Community Pediatrics
• Pediatric Residents
• Family Advocacy and Maternal and Child Health Leaders
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• Practice Administrators
• Other Pediatric Health Care Professionals
Earn a Maximum of 17.5 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM
Register online at www.pedialink.org/cmefinder or call 866/THE-AAP1 (866/843-2271).
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The AAP designates this live activity for a maximum of 17.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Attend the Mental Health Preconference -
Embracing Change: Improving the Health of ALL Children
Chicago, Illinois
July 29-31, 2011
http://www.pedialink.org/cmefinder/search-detail.cfm?key=65511D4A-EB04-46D9-BFCD-ECA9E84F4A7C&type=event&grp=1&task=details
Register by June 29, 2011 for Early Bird Rates!
What is the Future of Pediatrics Conference?
With the overall goal of improving child and adolescent health, this conference blends cutting-edge updates on clinical and practice management topics with strategies for advancing medical homes and building partnerships within communities. Learners will apply principles of team-based care, change management, and co-management between pediatric specialists and primary care, to achieve a goal of improving the health of all children. A variety of educational formats will be utilized, including interactive, roundtable, and networking sessions, to provide learners with opportunities to develop innovative, enduring partnerships and transform their practices.
Who Should Attend?
• Pediatricians in Primary Care Practice
• Community Pediatricians
• Faculty in General and Community Pediatrics
• Pediatric Residents
• Family Advocacy and Maternal and Child Health Leaders
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• Practice Administrators
• Other Pediatric Health Care Professionals
Earn a Maximum of 17.5 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM
Register online at www.pedialink.org/cmefinder or call 866/THE-AAP1 (866/843-2271).
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The AAP designates this live activity for a maximum of 17.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Attend the Mental Health Preconference -
Embracing Mental Health Care: Lessons Learned for Success
Thursday, July 28
10:00 am-5:15 pm
Plan to arrive early and participate in this opportunity designed to empower pediatricians with innovative best practice models for addressing mental health concerns and practical tools for clinical care. Advance registration is required, and seating is limited. A limited number of travel stipends will be available. For more information, visit www.aap.org/mentalhealth.
This preconference is supported by the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch (CAFB), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The content of this preconference does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or policies of CAFB, CMHS, SAMHSA or the Department of Health and Human Services.
Thursday, July 28
10:00 am-5:15 pm
Plan to arrive early and participate in this opportunity designed to empower pediatricians with innovative best practice models for addressing mental health concerns and practical tools for clinical care. Advance registration is required, and seating is limited. A limited number of travel stipends will be available. For more information, visit www.aap.org/mentalhealth.
This preconference is supported by the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch (CAFB), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The content of this preconference does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or policies of CAFB, CMHS, SAMHSA or the Department of Health and Human Services.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Child Services in the Commonwealth: Making it Better
Secretary Bigby is committed to changing the way in which children's services are organized in the Commonwealth (see her letter, posted last month) Now, several of the groups that advocate for children have weighed in, with a letter and some organizing around upcoming hearings (read it here) To join up, contact Barbara at the Children's League.
Friday, March 18, 2011
A letter from MCPAP
A letter from MCPAP:
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Dr. Keller,Behavioral Health Emergency Services (ESP) are available to people of all ages who are uninsured or covered by MassHealth (Medicaid plans). These services are also covered by some commercial insurance companies.
A statewide toll-free telephone number is available to help individuals reach their local Emergency Service Program/Mobile Crisis Intervention provider (ESP/MCI). By dialing 877-382-1609 and entering their zip code, callers will hear a recorded message containing the phone number of the ESP/MCI program in their area. If the zip code is unknown, the caller will be given a number of an ESP/MCI provider to call for the information.
Mobile Crisis Intervention is the youth (under the age of 21) -serving component of an emergency service program (ESP) provider. Mobile Crisis Intervention will provide a short-term service that is a mobile, on-site, face-to-face therapeutic response to a youth experiencing a behavioral health crisis for the purpose of identifying, assessing, treating, and stabilizing the situation and reducing immediate risk of danger to the youth or others consistent with the youth’s risk management/safety plan, if any. This service is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Click here for a handy flyer for providers. Click here for a handy flyer for families.
If you have a patient who is in crisis, please remember that this resource is available. This is an alternative to hospital emergency departments.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
John Straus, MD
VP Medical Affairs
Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project
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Pretty cool. Good to link MCPAP and CBHI.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Anxious? Click here
From TEENSCREEN:
------------------------------------------
Anxiety & Adolescents: Recognizing and Managing Teen Anxiety in the
Primary Care Office
Primary Care Office
Thursday, March 31, 2011
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
While adolescence is known as a time of normal stress and transition, clinical anxiety disorders can impair a teen’s life and contribute to distress, academic failure and social dysfunction. Left untreated, these disorders often lead to major depression or substance abuse.
Anxiety disorders are among the most common of mental illnesses in teens, but only 18% of adolescents with clinical anxiety ever receive treatment. Identifying and managing adolescent anxiety can be challenging. Symptoms and the focus of anxiety are varied and are often misidentified in primary care as somatic complaints due to “normal” teenage stress.
Anne Marie Albano, PhD, ABPP is a leading expert on child, adolescent and young adult anxiety and mood disorders. She is associate professor of clinical psychology in psychiatry in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and director of the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders. She is also President of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology of the American Psychological Association and is Past President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).
Dr. Albano will discuss ways to effectively identify anxiety disorders, available evidence-based treatments, strategies primary care providers can use with teens who suffer from anxiety disorders, and helpful resources that can be accessed for providers and parents.
Please click here to register.
Monday, February 28, 2011
From SAMSHA: A reminder that policies have consequences.
SAMSHA sent me a reminder today, that, in two months, it will with be Children's Mental Health Month. They included this graph, from some research out of ASPE in the last administration. In the accompanying report, it was pointed out that the way to prevent this from happening was to strengthen the social network around parents and children. So why are budget cuts in the current House Continuing Resolution targeting programs that support that very network? Full report available here.
"Young children exposed to five or more significant adversities in the first 3 years of childhood face a 76 percent likelihood of having one or more delays in their cognitive, language, or emotional development. The likelihood of delay increases in nearly a straight line with the number of risks.1
However, research has shown that caregivers can buffer the impact of stress and promote better outcomes for children even under stressful times when the following Strengthening Families Protective Factors2 are present:
- Parental resilience
- Social connections
- Knowledge of parenting and child development
- Concrete support in times of need
- Social and emotional competence of children
Friday, February 25, 2011
Need help navigating the system? Sometimes a kid needs a lawyer.
50 years ago, Leonard Bernstein captured the essential dilemma of the juvenile justice system in the song "Office Krupke", where a youth on the street goes from police officer to social worker to psychiatrist to judge in an eternal circle of ineffective care. Health Law Advocates has been trying to break that circle through the Mental Health Guardian Ad Litum program. Can be useful sometimes to have someone looking for a way out. (By the way, doesn't Lenny look great on YouTube? Really miss having him around...)
---------------------------------------------
HLA and Children's Mental Health
One of HLA's leading initiatives is our Children's Mental Health Access Project (CMHAP). Since we launched this initiative, HLA's work in this area has helped scores of families to overcome obstacles to securing diagnoses, treatment, and follow-up care for their children with unmet mental health needs.
A major component of HLA's CMHAP is our Mental Health Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) program which focuses on helping juvenile court-involved children who need mental health care. HLA attorneys are appointed by Juvenile Court Justices in select locations as Mental Health GAL for children in court who are falling through the cracks of the mental health system. The Mental Health GAL's role is to identify the child's unmet mental health needs, advocate on behalf of the child's interests and recommend judicial actions.
Numerous studies have measured a high incidence of mental illness among children in the juvenile justice system. The enormous cost of not diagnosing and treating mental illness in these children is apparent. Children who do not get the care they need are at greater risk of entering and remaining in the juvenile detention system and eventually the adult justice system, resulting in substantial social and economic costs to families, communities, and public agencies.
HLA's Mental Health GAL Project is currently supported by the Klarman Family Foundation and has received past support from the Jesse B. Cox Charitable Lead Trust, the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, the Nord Family Foundation and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Reforming CHINS is not easy
I guess it is harder to reform CHINS than it looked. Secretary Bigby sent this out today.
----------------------
Letter from Secretary Bigby
Sent:Wednesday, February 23, 2011 7:50 PM
Subject: A Message from Secretary Bigby
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to keep you informed and engaged in an exciting effort to strengthen the many services and supports we provide to children, youth and families. Since I became Secretary, I have heard from a diverse range of stakeholders - including families we serve, agency staff and advocates - about the need for a more integrated and coordinated system of services. I have also heard the need for services that strengthen families through a respectful approach that is holistic, responsive to each family's unique needs, and community-focused. In numerous forums, including the Human Service forums hosted by Governor Patrick in 2009 and 2010 and the recent Children's League Advocacy Day at the State House, advocates and stakeholders encouraged the Patrick- Murray Administration to address the "current maze of agencies" to make the service delivery system more closely coordinated and with a single access point for families seeking services.
Governor Patrick has heard the repeated requests from numerous sectors of the child-serving community to strengthen service access and coordination and has asked EOHHS to engage with a broad range of stakeholders to define how to reform the Commonwealth's services for children and families. We began discussions with agencies and with some stakeholders. In the coming weeks we will continue our discussion about how we can together streamline and strengthen the services and supports we offer to children, youth and families. We look forward to engaging in a thorough and thoughtful series of discussions about our ideas for improving service delivery. State employees, so many of whom are on the "front lines" of service delivery, will play an integral role as we refine our plans and we plan to engage Union leadership throughout this process. I welcome your input and feedback and will be in touch with you again soon with more information about this process.
In the meantime, thank you for the work you do each and every day on behalf of all of our consumers and for your commitment to working with us to strengthen the services and supports we offer.
JudyAnn Bigby, M.D.
Secretary
JudyAnn Bigby, M.D.
Secretary, Executive Office of Health and Human Services
One Ashburton Place, Suite 1109
Boston, MA 02108
617 573-1800
Assistant: Mary Skahen (mary.skahen@state.ma.us)
Friday, February 18, 2011
Family Perspective is Worthwhile.
Too much interesting stuff going on in the world.
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FEB. 18TH CHILDREN’S CONFERENCE CALL WITH DR. KEN DUCKWORTH
Save the Date: Friday, February 18th, 2011, from 11:00a.m. to 12:30p.m. Eastern Time.
Topic: The Integration of Mental Health and Primary Care ~ The Family Perspective
NAMI will be on the February Children’s Conference Call with Dr. Duckworth to discuss the integration of primary care and mental health from the perspective of families. We conducted a national survey on the family experience with primary care physicians and staff and will share some of the survey results during the call. We will also discuss the role primary care physicians can play in the early identification and intervention of mental illness.
Friday children’s conference calls with Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI’s medical director and a child and adolescent psychiatrist, take place on the third Friday of every month. The calls are toll free and are scheduled from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. E.T. To access the toll-free call, please dial 1-888-858-6021; access number 309918#. We hope that you will join us!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
This is not good for children.
Wraparound requires that you have services to network with. The current Federal budget debate puts that at risk, as outlined in the letter I got today from Michael Petit:
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Dear David,
This has been a major week for the future of children’s programs. We want to give you a breakdown of what is being debated and tell you what you can do to fight the wrong decisions many in Congress want to make.
Background
On October 1st of last year, the federal fiscal year 2011 began. The Congress did not pass a budget funding government programs. Instead they passed what is known as a “continuing resolution” that funds programs at essentially the same level they were in 2010. This resolution will expire on March 4th. Congress needs to pass final legislation that will fund the government until September 30th of this year or at some point government could "shutdown.' The fiscal year for 2012 will begin on October 1st of this year.
What the Congress is Currently Considering
The House of Representatives recently proposed a series of cuts to the budget for this year. Last week we told you about how they proposed $32 billion in cuts – including to the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, community health centers, poison control centers, and other children’s programs. This was not enough for some members of the House, particularly those who associate with the “Tea Party” movement. On Friday night, a day and time known by government officials as the best to release information that they know will get the least amount of media coverage, the Appropriations Committee offered an additional $42 billion in cuts. These include
Head Start - $1 billion (15%) cut
Community Health Centers - $1 billion cut
Community Services Block Grant - $341 million cut
Low Income Home Energy Assistance contingency fund - $390 million cut
Title I (K-12 education for low-income students) - $693.5 million cut
IDEA (special education) grants to states - $560 million cut
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) - $747 million cut
21st Century Community Learning Centers (after school programs) - $100 million cut
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant - $50 million cut
Child Care Development Block Grant - $39 million cut
Many other children's programs will be eliminated entirely. Some examples include:
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants
Mentoring Children of Prisoners
Even Start
Striving Readers
High School Graduation Initiative
Student Aid – for higher education
LEAP program (for low-income college students)
The House could include even more cuts as they debate this resolution.
These cuts are wrong on many levels. They harm children at a vulnerable time in their development. The economy remains in recession, and an all-time record number of children (14,567,000) currently live in poverty. Cuts like this would mean that 368,000 low income 3-and 4-year olds would lose the education and nutrition program they receive at their Head Start center. The education cuts, along with others being made in states, would leave thousands of teachers out of jobs this year. Many in Washington say these cuts are needed to reduce the deficit. However, these cuts would take only 2% off this year’s projected deficit. So essentially, these cuts harm children and don’t solve America’s fiscal challenges.
What You Can Do
Contact your member of the House and Senators and tell them you oppose these cuts and why. They will listen to you. The original House proposal included a $210 million cut to the Maternal and Child Block Grant. When they heard from people opposed to this, the Republicans reduced their cut to $50 million. Many lawmakers are not fully supportive of all these cuts. When they reduce these cuts, they are showing just how much discomfort they have. Click here to contact your representatives. Some suggestions when you get hold of someone in their office:
Tell them that Congress needs to start budgeting like real families and put our nation's kids first! Please stop these harmful proposed cuts to programs that are essential for our nation's economic future.
Remind them that scientific research and leading economists have said for years that investing in children is one of the smartest investments we can make. We need more investments in the health, safety, and education of children, not mindless cuts.
Ask them what they would say to the 4-year-old in their district or state who is forced out from his or her Head Start program.
Let us know what they say.
What Happens Next
Even if the House of Representatives passes all of these cuts to the budget for this year, the Senate has their say as well. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has slammed these cuts, saying “they would impede the federal government from completing even its most core functions.” President Obama has threatened to veto these cuts. This debate will continue throughout the year.
At some point, Congress will begin debating the budget for next year. This week, President Obama released his budget for 2012. Overall, it contains a small increase to children’s programs. Not all programs receive an increase. The President proposed cuts in juvenile justice, heating assistance for low-income families, and community service programs. He makes up for this somewhat with increases in Head Start, afterschool programs, child nutrition, child health, and education programs. We will let you know much more about this proposal for next year, but the main business in Washington is to fight the cuts House members want to make to children’s programs, right now.
Michael Petit
President
Every Child Matters Education Fund
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Mental Health Parity is Still Confusing
Still trying to understand Mental Health Parity? Me too. These might help:
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Free Webinars for Consumers: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)
SAMHSA's Partners for Recovery Initiative invites you to two free webinars on the new Federal parity law.
Parity 101 | February 17, 2011 | 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern Time
The webinar will provide a general overview of MHPAEA and the recently released Interim Final Rule. The webinar, which is directed to consumers, will be presented by health policy experts from the Legal Action Center.
Register for Parity 101 Webinar
Parity 201 | March 10, 2011 | 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern Time
The webinar, designed for states and providers, includes a detailed discussion about implementation of MHPAEA. This discussion will provide details on state-level implementation efforts, interplay between the Federal parity law and state parity laws, and anticipated additional pieces of regulatory guidance.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
This looked interesting. Wish I had time to listen in.
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TeenScreen National Center Webinar
Managing ADHD in Children and Adolescents:A Clinical Update
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
ADHD remains the most prevalent and challenging of behavioral disorders in school-aged children. With research showing that children with ADHD face increased risks of major depression and suicidal ideation in adolescence, clinicians are confronting both the immediate and potentially long-term burdens of a disease that can impact a patient’s emotional, social and academic life.
Lawrence Greenhill, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and a leading researcher on the treatment of ADHD. The Ruane Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University and current President of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Greenhill will discuss the latest research and clinical advances in the treatment and management of ADHD.
Click here to register
Click here for event details.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Comments on the WBUR series.
I promised comments, but, like most of America, I watched the Super Bowl and ate chilli last night (good vegetarian chilli with a nice sourdough bread and cheddar cheese atop, Moosewood recipe). This morning, I woke up to WBUR's comments and though that I might start by reflecting on those, which you can read here.
A few thoughts:
1) Stigma really does exist. Lots and lots of people do not seem to believe that mental illness is as common as it seems to be, and that there is value in blaming parents, Ben Spock, liberals, modern society, the internet, vaccines, toxins and all manner of things for its existence. Their conclusion is that, if we just took those things away, it would get better. Much more likely is that mental illness does exist (the brain is the most complicated organ we've got; why should that work better than our heart or liver?) and that we are seeing more problems now because people are surviving childhood diseases that may have been harder on those with mental illness in the past, and that we are asking the brain to function in a way that we have not asked it to do in the past. In any event, how a brain gets messed up is useful in prevention work; what to do after the fact is actually a separate issue. People should be kind to those trying to cope with the aftermath, many of them are, but a lot of the ones that aren't wrote into WBUR last week (and perhaps went back to their Scientology meetings afterwards). The fight is not over, just because we have mental health parity now.
2) There is a disparity between care for the poor and the middle class (and the rich): But it is not what you think. The rich can pay cash for a child psychiatrist like Dr. Edna in Mad Men, who will talk with there child, develop a plan for treatment that involves therapy with the judicious use of medication, and sometimes treatment in ranches in New Mexico. The poor are locked into Medicaid, which is held to an EPSDT standard for children: If we find it, it must be treated. This allows the poor in States with good advocates to do things like the Rosie D. lawsuit, and to get Medicaid to cover a variety of what are called "wraparound" services, things that do more for kids than give them medications with reckless abandon. Granted, they still do: there are several studies showing that rates of medication in Medicaid patients are high. But it is usually the case that meds in Medicaid, at least in Massachusetts, are tied to some sort of therapy and the CBHI is working hard to get the children with serious emotional disturbances into some sort of coordinated care. The vast majority of us, however, are in commercial plans, which are not held to the EPSDT standard. Those kids often find it easier to get medications than to get therapy, and may actually be getting care that is less comprehensive than either the rich or the poor, a problem that is augmented because the parents are working, and don't that the time or resources to advocate for their child that are available to those who are either rich or poor.
3) What to do about this is a political decision. So, do you upgrade the middle class to at least the level of support given through Medicaid? Or to do take down the poor to the level of the middle class? That is a classic politic dilemma, and fits well into the current discussions about the appropriate role of government. I would argue that to cut services to the poor guarantees increase cost in unemployment, disability and incarceration in the future, and is a "penny-wise, pound-foolish" strategy, but others would certainly disagree.
4) Treatment of mental health problems in childhood is complicated. While the new services offered by the CBHI are great, they reflect that complexity, and will require much care coordination if they are to be used effectively.
Good series. You should listen to it.
Good chilli. You should eat it.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Back to the Legislature: Making it Better
I meant to listen to the WBUR series, I really did. I will do so this weekend, and pour forth a spate of commentary. In the meantime, the Campaign does have some good ideas going forward:
As the 2011-2012 legislative session commences, the Children’s Mental Health Campaign (CMHC) continues advocating to improve the system of care for children with mental illness and their families. Please click HERE today to contact your State Senator and State Representative and ask them to sign-on as co-sponsors of CMHC’s 2011-2012 legislative session priorities:
Coordination of Children’s Mental Health Care
Lead Sponsors: Senator Steven A. Tolman and Representative Ruth B. Balser
This provision requires commercial insurance companies to reimburse licensed children’s mental health clinicians for time spent in consultation with families, teachers, pediatricians, day-care providers and other adults who regularly interact with the child in order to make a diagnosis or to formulate or implement a treatment plan.
Families and Children Engaged in Services (FACES)
Lead Sponsors: Senator Karen E. Spilka and Representative Paul J. Donato
The Child in Need of Services (CHINS) system is intended to provide assistance to children and families when the child is habitually truant, runs away from home or refuses to obey the lawful and reasonable rules of their parents or their school. This provision transforms the current juvenile justice based system in to one which is community based.
Proportional Payments of the MA Child Psychiatric Access Project
Lead Sponsors: Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan and Representative Ruth B. Balser
The MA Child Psychiatric Access Project (MCPAP) provides primary care providers, who are on the front lines in diagnosing and treating mental health disorders, access to mental health consultations with a team comprised of child psychiatrists, psychologists and/or social workers. This provision requires commercial insurers to contribute to the funding of this program at a rate equal to the participation of their membership.
For more information about these bills please visit the CMHC's legislative priorities page at www.childrensmentalhealthcampaign.org/legislation.
We need your help turning these important bills into laws. Thank you for your continued support and advocacy on behalf of the Commonwealth's most vulnerable children!
Thank you,
Erin G. Bradley
CMHC Coordinator
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Reflecting on Part 1: WBUR's series on Mental Health Treatment
First, this is really well done, in depth, radio journalism. You should listen to this here, if you haven't already. It tells the story of a young man who has a story similar to many that I have seen over the years, who has had some sort of mental health problem, has accessed our system (in a manner, to be clear, that most of the country cannot) and is entering adulthood confused about his diagnosis, his need for treatment and his prognosis going forward. He (and implicitly the reporter) imply that it really shouldn't be so hard. What is it about? A few themes, that you may have heard before.
1) Behavioral/psychiatric problems are hard to diagnose, in part because diagnosis is based on clinical impression. This family had many reports; with many diagnoses and many recommendations and it made them confused.
2) Stigma lives. A youth with mental health, who develops substance abuse problems suddenly has to find a whole new treatment system. Why? Read the comments that people have left on the website. The obsession with blame and fault is impressive.
3) Primary care wasn't helpful. This family really would have benefited from a primary care doc who stayed with them throughout the journey. Kind of sad that they had to keep looking.
4) Treatment works. Sort of. Sometimes. The young man in the story was not a big fan of the many medications that he has taken over the years, although, in the end, he conceded that they may have been helpful. A long term relationship with a consistent provider may have been helpful.
More tomorrow.
Friday, January 28, 2011
WBUR Investigates Children's Mental Health in Massachusetts:
Weeklong News Series Begins Mon., Jan. 31
WHO: WBUR, 90.9 FM, WBUR.ORG, Boston's NPR News Station, examines the children's mental health system in a special series titled, "ARE THE KIDS ALL RIGHT?"
WHAT: An estimated 300,000 Massachusetts children have a diagnosable mental health disorder, but many of them don't receive care or don't receive appropriate care. That's despite the lawsuit known as "Rosie D," that mandates adequate mental health care for children on state subsidized insurance in Massachusetts. Described as a "lightning rod of change" by Children's Hospital and other child advocates, the lawsuit has had broad implications for the diagnosis and treatment of ALL Massachusetts children. WBUR Reporters Deborah Becker and Monica Brady-Myerov explore this subject in a special WBUR news series.
WHEN: "ARE THE KIDS ALL RIGHT?" airs Jan. 31 - Feb. 4 during Morning Edition from 5 a.m. - 9 a.m. and All Things Considered from 4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., only on WBUR and wbur.org (segments scheduled to air at 6:35 a.m., 8:35 a.m. and 5:50 p.m.).
Monday, Jan. 31: ONE LOCAL FAMILY'S JOURNEY
WBUR explores the Cadogan family's struggle with son, Will, age 17, who has tried several medications, psychiatrists, therapists, hospitalizations, outpatient programs, special schools and even self-medication over the years.
Tuesday, Feb. 1: THE MEDICATE DEBATE
As psychopharmaceutical drugs become more sophisticated, and more parents demand treatment, WBUR looks at the debate over when and how to medicate children for mental health issues such as depression, ADHD and more.
Wedneday, Feb. 2: SCREENING ALL KIDS EARLY FOR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Because of "Rosie D," Massachusetts has become a national model for pediatricians to regularly screen ALL kids for mental health issues during routine exams. WBUR looks at how screening has worked and whether pediatricians are equipped to do it.
Thursday, Feb. 3: ACCESS: WHERE ARE ALL THE DOCTORS?
Massachusetts has one of the best doctor-to-child mental health patient ratios in the nation, yet many families can't get the services they need. Complicating matters, a recent study estimates that half of the state's mental health providers will leave in the next five years. WBUR talks to families and doctors about the challenges around access.
Friday, Feb. 4: HOW DO WE IMPROVE?
Roundtable discussion moderated by WBUR's Bob Oakes with guests including a local parent, a doctor, the Department of Mental Health Commissioner Barbara Leadholm, and Lisa Lambert, executive director of the Parent/Professional Advocacy League.
We extend our sincere gratitude to all of the families whose personal stories will be reflected in this series and to our friends at PPAL for their work to make this series happen. This promises to be a significant milestone in our efforts to educate the public about what happens in families when a child is mentally ill.
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