The Illinois Collaboration on Youth and Youth
Network Council, along with members of the state’s
congressional delegation, announced last week a new program to
expand mental health services to children in danger of becoming repeat juvenile
offenders. This, plus key moves made by the
governor’s office this year, has moved forward the dialogue
on childhood mental health in Illinois. Earlier this year, Gov. Rod Blagojevich
expanded state services to at-risk children and their families by
increasing enrollment in KidCare and FamilyCare, paid by the state
Children’s Health Insurance Program. In June, Blagojevich
increased mental health services for children in custody of the
state’s Division of Child and Family Services. U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL,
recently announced a $1.2 million renewable federal grant to
community-based youth service organizations in Illinois to halt the
cycle of juvenile delinquency by expanding mental health services.
Roughly 1,900 youth offenders were on parole
in Illinois last year, according to the Illinois Department of
Corrections. Many believe that lack of access to adequate mental
health care outside of the state correctional system—which spends more money per capita for juvenile
facilities than adult centers—is the key factor determining
whether a child will re-offend, which happens almost 50 percent of the
time in Illinois. If ignored, mental health problems can spill
over into his personal relationships and the community, possibly
leading him to act out or repeat self-destructive behavior, says C.
Gary Leofanti, president of the ICOY/YNC collaborative overseeing
the pilot project. The initiative will enable the 22 agencies
that will execute the plan (mostly community health clinics
and not-for-profit organizations) to address the mental health
needs of juvenile offenders by providing diagnosis, counseling,
crisis intervention, and assessment services. In many, cases, these
agencies also provide educational programs and career services. Daniel M. Potter, who co-chairs the mental
services task force of the Illinois chapter of the National
Association of Social Workers, says that poor people in general
have more difficulty obtaining mental health services, the result
he says, of “our culture not valuing mental health.”
The National Institute of Mental Health found
this summer that half of all lifelong cases of mental illness begin by age 14. (The
average age of Illinois child offenders is 17.) The study found that
the earlier a mental health condition begins, and the slower they
receive care, the more severe the illness is likely to become. The
study also revealed that an untreated mental disorder can cause the
emergence of other illnesses. Potter fears that access to mental health
services could endanger agencies like those working with juvenile
parolees under a new payment restructuring plan currently underway.
The plan moves Illinois mental health providers from an up-front
reimbursement system to fee-for-service.
“Many teen MH needs are found in the
process of finding out other issues,” Potter says. But a glaring problem with the reimbursement
restructuring plan, he adds, is that many youth-centered
organizations providing mental health services are not traditional
fee-for-service entities in the way that neighborhood clinics are,
so their programs might not be reimbursable by the state.
Now, Potter says, these “agencies are
in a position to struggle to figure out how to provide services
with less money.”
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2005.
