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Rep. Napolitano's Children's Mental Health Day Briefing Highlights Need for Early Intervention

May 10, 2010

(Washington D.C.)- On May 6, Rep. Grace Napolitano, the Mental Health Caucus, and prominent national mental health advocacy organizations held a briefing in Washington, D.C. on National Children’s Mental Health Day. Napolitano, government administrators, and mental health advocates addressed an audience of activists and congressional staff on child and adolescent mental health issues and the necessity and effectiveness of federally funded mental health programs.

“Too many children with mental health issues struggle alone, without the support they need to grow and move forward,” Napolitano said. “We are better off addressing mental health issues early on, in school, instead of suffering the possible suicide, criminal behavior, and lost potential that can come when we pretend that they do not exist. The cost of these programs is low and we owe it to our kids to make sure they are adequately funded.”

Napolitano has introduced the Mental Health in Schools Act of 2009, a bill which would provide federal grants for mental health service providers to partner with schools in offering mental health services for children and adolescents. The bill is modeled after a successful pilot program Napolitano established in 2001 that currently operates in 8 public schools within her district.

“Intervention makes a big difference,” said Kathryn Power, Director of the Center for Mental Health Services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). “Helping children become healthy, strong and self-confident prevents mental health problems and leads to a lifetime of positive outcomes.”

On May 6, SAMHSA released a new study that showed that behavioral and emotional problems decreased among nearly one-third (31 percent) of young children with mental health challenges within the first 6 months after entering services through a systems of care program.

“Income matters,” said Janice Cooper, Director of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University. “The recession has reminded us of that, and cuts to mental health programs have reminded us of that.”

“Mental health programs for children deserve federal funding,” Napolitano said. “A little compassion early on pays big dividends in the long run. We must act now -- we have the necessary resources, we know what we have to do, and we owe our kids their future.”

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