Mental Health Services for Children and Teens: A Community Approach
By David Backes, January 10 2013
In an effort to more effectively provide mental health services for children and teens, funds were provided to create The Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program, also known as the Children’s Mental Health Initiative (CMHI)--a cooperative agreement program administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the Department of Health and Human Services.
The CMHI helps promote the coordination of the multiple and often fragmented systems that serve children and youth from birth to age 21 diagnosed with a serious emotional disturbance and their families.
SAMHSA’s report, “The Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program, Evaluation Findings” found encouraging results, including self-reported anxiety symptoms decreasing for 24.2 percent of youth from intake to 12 months, and for 30.2 percent of youth from intake to 24 months.
The system of care philosophy revolves around the following eight principles that state services should be:
- Family driven
- Based on service plans that are individualized, strengths based, and evidence informed
- Youth guided
- Culturally and linguistically competent
- Provided in the least restrictive environment possible
- Community based
- Accessible
- Collaborative and coordinated through an interagency network
Topics: Adolescent Mental Health, No bio box