The Coalition's 2007–2008 Children's Mental Health Matters! Fact Sheet was released in Annapolis at our legislative breakfast last week. The Fact Sheet is a simple way to quantify the large numbers of children touched by mental health needs. Children and youth continue to represent about 50 percent of the individuals (47,709) served by Maryland 's public mental health system. Of course, this does not include the thousands of children receiving care through their family's private insurance. Those numbers are impossible to obtain due to the numerous private insurers. The majority of children receive only outpatient therapy. However, a total of 5,667 children and youth had an inpatient admission to the hospital for psychiatric treatment last year.
The number of students in special education with emotional disturbance has steadily been decreasing. In October 2008, the number of children coded ED was 8,369. This number is down from 9,314 in 2006. Unfortunately, the dropout rate for these students continues to climb (see item below).
Maryland operates a youth crisis hot line that is linked to a network of hot lines throughout the state. Approximately 10,000 calls are made each year to the youth crisis hot line.
These numbers can be mind-numbing. What really counts is the ability of each family to access appropriate care for their child. This is the Coalition's mission!
- Jane A. Walker
Executive Director
First Lady is Honorary Chair for Children's Mental Health Awareness Campaign
Maryland's First Lady, Judge Katie O'Malley, is our honorary chair for the recently announced Children's Mental Health Matters! awareness campaign. Judge O'Malley will be featured in public service announcements and other campaign materials, along with another Maryland mom, Debbie Phelps, mother of Olympic champion Michael Phelps.
The Maryland campaign will be held throughout the first week in May as part of the national Children's Mental Health Awareness Week, May 3–9. The official kickoff was held on Dec. 18 with a breakfast in Catonsville that brought together family members, public officials, providers, educators and other interested stakeholders, all of whom seek to shine a spotlight on the state's children with mental health needs and to sharpen outreach efforts to families and communities.
The campaign is co-sponsored by the Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health, the Mental Health Association of Maryland, the state's Mental Hygiene Administration and the Transformation Grant. All the child-serving agencies in the state also have signed on as partners along with numerous professional associations and private organizations. Legislators were introduced to the campaign on Jan. 21 during a breakfast in Annapolis attended by more than 150 people. Debbie Phelps made a surprise appearance and spoke of the importance of children's mental health as a mother and as the principal of a school. Mrs. Phelps made a special effort to connect with each of the youth who were present. All of the youth left with a big smile and a photograph for their wall at home! You can keep up with all the latest campaign news and events by visiting www.childrensmentalhealthmatters.org.
Coping with Financial Stress
During these uncertain economic times, many families have been affected by job loss or declining income. Children depend on their parents for emotional security. When parents are tense, upset and inattentive, much of this security is gone.
The Virginia Cooperative Extension Service has a helpful tip sheet, Families Taking Charge: Helping Children Cope, for families experiencing financial stress. Click here to view the entire tip sheet.
Web-based Workshops for Families
Knowing how busy our lives are, the Coalition will be initiating a new monthly workshop series designed for families to learn from home or work. Participation is both Web-based and by telephone conference call. You can see PowerPoint presentations from your computer and listen to the presentation on your phone using a toll-free number.
The first series of workshops focuses on issues related to children with mental health needs in school. All workshops are one hour in length and are held during lunchtime, from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Presenters are experts in their fields from state and national organizations. Registration is limited to 20 participants, and pre-registration is required. The schedule for February–May is listed below. For additional information, e-mail callenza@mdcoalition.org.
Transition Planning for Students with Mental Health Needs
Date: Feb. 12
Presenter: Ann Geddes, Ph.D., transition-age youth specialist,
Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health
School Avoidance and Anxiety
Date: March 5
Presenter: Golda S. Ginsburg, Ph.D., director of research, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Hospital
Psycho-educational Testing
Date: April 2
Presenter: T. Andrew Zabel, Ph.D., ABPP-CN
Pediatric neuropsychologist and research scientist,
Kennedy Krieger Institute
Addressing Behavioral Management in School
Date: May 7
Presenter: Peter Leone, Ph.D., professor,
Department of Special Education, University of Maryland, College Park
Resources for Maryland Families
To help Maryland families during these cold winter months and uncertain economic times, Gov. O'Malley launched a new webpage to help qualifying citizens locate and access a range of state assistive programs and services. The website, http://problemsolver.maryland.gov, contains listings of resources in the following areas: children and families; education; employment; food; finances; health; seniors and people with disabilities; shelter and housing; transportation; utilities and energy; and veterans. Additional tools include a community services locator and a calculator to determine what services a family may be eligible to receive. Application forms also can be downloaded from the site.
Dropout Prevention Strategies
Across Maryland, students with mental health issues are more likely to drop out of school than those with any other disability. Many studies have been performed or are under way to identify various strategies to help these students stay in school, progress in school and complete school with a diploma or certificate; the 2008 graduation rate for Maryland students coded as having emotional disturbance was 50 percent.
The Institute of Education Sciences' What Works Clearinghouse recently released a dropout prevention report examining various prevention and intervention strategies that had been studied and identified what it determined to be most effective in helping students. Successful strategies include:
- Accelerated middle schools—self-contained academic programs to help middle school students who are one to two years behind grade levels to catch up with their age peers;
- ALAS (Achievement for Latinos through Academic Success)—a California middle school intervention, including training in problem-solving skills and how to participate in school activities, that addresses student, school, family and community factors that affect dropping out;
- Career academies—school-within-school programs at the high school level offering career-related curricula, academic coursework and work experience through partnerships with local employers; and
- Check & Connect—a Minnesota program that advocates closely monitoring student performance and progress indicators ("Check") along with individualized attention to students in partnership with school personnel, family members and community service providers ("Connect").
The full dropout prevention report may be found by visiting http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/topic/. A Dropout Prevention Practice Guide intended to help secondary educators, school boards and superintendents formulate winning strategies to help all students stay in school and succeed may be found at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/.
Student Stigma Bill
Lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on a measure to change the special education term "emotional disturbance" to "emotional or behavioral disability." Per federal law, the definition will remain the same.
The legislation is in response to the recent survey of parents, educators, providers and students regarding the "emotional disturbance" term. Changing the terminology was identified as a top priority by the Maryland Steering Committee for Students with Emotional Disturbance in Educational Settings, a collaboration of the Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health, the Maryland State Department of Education and the Mental Hygiene Administration.
The legislation will be introduced during the current General Assembly session.
Governor's Budget Shifts Special Education Costs for Non-Public Schools
In the proposed 2010 state budget released by Governor Martin O'Malley in January, there is an increase in the amount local school systems will have to pay toward the costs of educating special education students from their districts in non-public schools.
Gov. O'Malley's proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 includes a $69 million decrease in direct aid to local school systems. The shift in the amount the state pays for non-public schools is part of the overall decrease to local school systems. The Coalition will be examining the impact of this change and will provide additional information when it becomes available.
New Findings on Nation's Delivery of Children's Mental Health Care
Twenty-five years after the release of a groundbreaking survey of children's mental health services across the country, the follow-up study reveals little to celebrate.
"Unclaimed Children Revisited: Fostering a Climate to Improve Children's Mental Health," shows the 1983 recommendation for strong federal leadership on the issue was not heeded, leading to state policies that continue to hinder access to and delivery of services. The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) study, released in November 2008 at the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, highlights unresponsive federal policies and details the ways in which states are impeded—but it also offers concise suggestions for righting the ship.
"The lack of federal leadership has led to inequity between the states, often leading to disappointing results for children, youth and families," said report co-author Janice L. Cooper, Ph.D. "Children in one state might have fared considerably better across the border in a neighboring state. Sadly, children bear the burden of those inequities. We need a nationwide mental health system that focuses on prevention, early intervention and treatment."
Researchers collected and analyzed data from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia , Guam and Puerto Rico . Their report shows an explosion of new knowledge, new understandings of how children and their problems develop and new ways of providing preventive and treatment services. But these advancements are stymied by the haphazard manner in which states approach children's mental health:
- Only 23 states report investing in early childhood mental health and of those, there are limited statewide strategies. Fortunately, Maryland is in the forefront in early childhood mental health with each jurisdiction in Maryland having an early childhood mental health consultant for child care facilities and family day care.
- Only 24 states invest in school-based mental health services. A recent survey of school mental health in Maryland conducted by the Mental Health Association and Center for School Mental Health showed a surprising number of school mental health programs and services in Maryland . However, there is great variability across the state in terms of the programs and services.
- Emphasis in care delivery has been on children with severe emotional issues, with little emphasis placed on at-risk children, who could benefit from early intervention.
The report urges much wider use of evidence-based practices as well as stricter accounting of the use of dollars by providers of children's mental health services.
Upcoming Events
Planning for the Future of Your Child with Special Needs—Feb. 3, 6:30–8:30 p.m. Workshop for parents and guardians of children with special needs will cover government benefits eligibility, guardianship issues and financial security presented by MetDESK specialists; F.B. Gwynn Center, 5998 Radio Station Road, La Plata. For more information and to register, contact Kim Busch or Debbie Gilley at 301-934-7456.
Employment Part 2: Project SEARCH—Feb. 11, 7–8:30 p.m. Part of the Adolescent Transition Lecture Series sponsored by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office for Genetics and Children with Special Health Care Needs and the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute, lecture for youth with disabilities, their parents and providers by Joanna Falcone, the director of Project SEARCH at the ARC of Baltimore; KKI Greenspring Campus, 3825 Greenspring Ave., Baltimore, Bowles Building, 4th Floor Boardroom. Contact Jenny Jones to register at 443-923-2790 or resourcefinder@kennedykrieger.org.
Transition Planning Webinar—Feb. 12, 12 noon–1 p.m. Maryland Coalition online workshop presented by Ann Geddes, Ph.D., on transition planning for students with mental health needs. Limited to 20 participants; pre-registration is required. E-mail callenza@mdcoalition.org.
Financial Planning Seminar—Feb. 25, 7–9:30 p.m. A Merrill Lynch financial adviser, third-party special needs trust attorney and disability organization staff discuss financial, legal and social challenges faced by families raising a child with special needs; participants can view the seminar at www.epliveonline.com in real time or an archived format. Click here to register; there is no registration fee to participate.
School Avoidance and Anxiety Webinar—March 5, 12 noon–1 p.m. Maryland Coalition online workshop presented by Golda S. Ginsberg, Ph.D., of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital . Limited to 20 participants; pre-registration is required. E-mail callenza@mdcoalition.org.
Independent Living—March 18, 7–8:30 p.m. Part of the Adolescent Transition Lecture Series sponsored by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office for Genetics and Children with Special Health Care Needs and the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute, lecture for youth with disabilities, their parents and providers by Ruth Ann Wynegar, community outreach coordinator at Making Choices for Independent Living; KKI Greenspring Campus, 3825 Greenspring Ave., Baltimore, Bowles Building, 4th Floor Boardroom. Contact Jenny Jones to register at 443-923-2790 or resourcefinder@kennedykrieger.org.
Psycho-educational Testing Webinar—April 2, 12 noon–1 p.m. Maryland Coalition online workshop presented by T. Andrew Zabel, Ph.D., ABPP-CN, of the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Limited to 20 participants; pre-registration is required. E-mail callenza@mdcoalition.org.
Firsthand Information about Transition—April 29, 7–8:30 p.m. Part of the Adolescent Transition Lecture Series sponsored by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office for Genetics and Children with Special Health Care Needs and the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute, a panel of four transitioning youth and their parents will share their experiences; KKI Greenspring Campus, 3825 Greenspring Ave., Baltimore, Bowles Building, 4th Floor Boardroom. Contact Jenny Jones to register at 443-923-2790 or resourcefinder@kennedykrieger.org.
Addressing Behavioral Management in School Webinar—May 7, 12 noon–1 p.m. Maryland Coalition online workshop presented by Peter Leone, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland . Limited to 20 participants; pre-registration is required. E-mail callenza@mdcoalition.org.
