Mental Health Accessibility

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Pages: 5

Mental Health Accessibility in Children and Adolescent
Melissa Thompson
Tusculum College

Mental Health Accessibility
Mental health has recently gained spotlight attention in the United States. There are currently many bills, programs, and websites being developed to help those suffering from a mental health issue. Up to date statistics are needed to visualize the enormous issues that are facing the mental health community.
Statistics
Mental Health America reports that 18% of adults have a mental health condition with nearly half of those have a co-occurring substance addiction. 56% of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, and 7.7% of youth have no access to mental health through private insurance. Rate
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Introduced on March 7, 2018 by Senator Lamar Alexander of TN S.2513 School Safety and Mental Health Services Improvement Act of 2018 is centered around this early screening process. Three points stated in the bill proposed bill are
“(1) early identification and intervention to prevent the further progression of mental illness, including serious emotional disturbance, in such children and adolescents; (2) early identification and intervention to reduce or mitigate the development of behaviors in such children and adolescents that could lead to arrest, incarceration, suicide, property destruction, or other violent behavior; and(3) the extent to which early identification or intervention for children and adolescents at a clinical high risk for psychosis or aggressive behaviors can be scaled up to mitigate or delay the progression of mental illness, reduce disability, and maximize recovery” (Congress.gov, 2018, sec.
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The school nurse practitioner or the school nurse is often the first health care provider to see children and adolescents who may need mental health services. Children with mental health disorders are more likely to withdraw from school and have a greater involvement within the criminal justice system. Mental health services provided by school-based health center would incorporate crisis intervention, comprehensive individual evaluation and treatment, case management, classroom behavior and learning support, substance abuse counseling, assessment and treatment of learning problems, peer mediation and prescription, and management of behavioral health medications. This would help keep children in school and out of the criminal justice system. Having a school-based health center which provides mental health services would permit for referrals and access to the services the children and adolescents as appropriate. (Baines & Dialo, 2016, p.