CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH

CT Health’s Children’s Mental Health goal is to reduce the number of at-risk children ages 6-14 from entering intensive treatment and/or the juvenile justice system due to their mental health problems.  Over the next 10 years, the foundation will:

1. Invest in projects that promote a community-based system of early identification and intervention for children at risk of mental health problems.
2. Support developing and disseminating knowledge about early identification and effective interventions related to children's mental health.

Mental health disorders affecting children and adolescents include depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness), attention deficit hyperactivity, anxiety, eating disorders, schizophrenia and conduct disorder.

Mental health disorders severely disrupt the daily functions of the home, school or community, and affect 1 in 20 young people. Interventions before these disorders occur or before they become serious offer the greatest opportunity to avoid the substantial resulting costs to individuals, families and society.

CT Health’s focus is on educating and empowering Connecticut residents, as well as communicating effective practices that are both innovative and evidence-based.  CT Health supports projects and initiatives that emphasize a systems-change approach that leads to positive behavioral changes for Connecticut residents and sustained changes in community systems. 
Examples of systems-change strategies that can address the objectives above include:

• Research, stakeholder convenings and knowledge development involving:
  • Early identification practices for children’s mental health
  • Interventions for children ages 6-14 that are culturally, linguistically and developmentally appropriate
  • New or innovative information about  children’s mental health needs in Connecticut
  • Policy advocacy solutions for addressing children’s mental health needs in Connecticut
• Demonstration grants that focus on:
  • System linking and coordination to better identify and serve children with mental health needs
  • Innovative solutions for engaging children and families with unmet mental health needs, particularly under-represented or minority populations
  • Technical assistance that enhances the ability of an organization or system to identify, assess and provide interventions for children
    

When successful, these systems-change approaches address the long-term goal of reducing the number of at-risk children ages 6-14 entering intensive treatment and/or the juvenile justice system due to mental health problems. Short- and intermediate-term outcomes can include:

• Increased capacity and coordination among schools, family support or other community-based systems to provide early identification or interventions to children and families
• New policies or procedures that lead to integrating children’s mental health with physical health
• New knowledge that can lead to more effective practices or passage of local or statewide regulations that address children’s mental health needs. This includes policies about early identification and interventions for children and their families or increased funding for prevention services 
•  Reduced school sanctions (suspension, expulsion) due to behavioral health problems
• Improvements in a child’s personal protective factors (positive family connections, positive association with school, increased social skills, etc.)

References:
Committee on the Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth and Young Adults: Research Advances and Promising Interventions, Preventing Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C, 2009

Kessler RC, Berglund PA, Demler O, Jin R, Walters EE. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry. 2005 Jun;62(6):593-602

Bruce S. Jonas, Sc.M., Ph.D. Debra Brody, M.P.H, Margaret Roper, M.S., William Narrow, M.D., M.P.H. Mood Disorder Prevalence Among Young Men and Women in the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Office of Analysis and Epidemiology, Room 6433, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782

U.S. Public Health Service, Report of the Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental Health: A National Action Agenda. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, 2000.

Links to related 2010 National Mental Health Month activity:

Video

WTNH-8 Children's Mental Health Month Video (featuring Patricia Baker, CT Health president & CEO)

Children
Child Development Infoline

Center For Children's Advocacy

United Way of Connecticut 2-1-1 referal/crisis intervention

Connecticut FAVOR policy/family advocacy

Adults
The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS)

Mental Health Association of Connecticut

Other related links:
Connecticut Voices for Children-The State of Children's Mental Health in Connecticut

Report Of The Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission On Mental Health

Connecticut Health and Development Institute, Inc. - The Role of Behavioral Health Screening and Assessment in the Connecticut Juvenile Justice System

Connecticut Voices for Children-Missing Out: Suspending Students from Connecticut Schools

Connecticut’s Playbook for Prevention

For more information please contact Ben Rodriguez, program officer at (860) 224-2200, Ben@cthealth.org