New SCHIP Law Gives Kids Mental Health Coverage

When searching for a provider for your child's care you should be aware that in some states, like Illinois, there are also Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPC) who are also Master's level clinicians who are specifically trained in mental health assessment and treatment. Often clumped in with the term "social worker", LCPCs actually specialize in mental health assessment and treatment.

Willow Killoran of IL 4:39PM February 19, 2009

Thank you for the informative article.

Keep up the great work!

Jeffrey Schrembs of VA 2:20AM February 11, 2009

Based upon the figures I have seen serving on County Children's Mental Health Care Plan Advisory and school district Special Ed Committees, polling data on life-threatening behaviors and request to Ministerial Alliance for help by another school district superintendant, law practice involving children and mental health law, representing psychiatrist head of Child & Adolescent Unit at local private mental hospital, and other experience, I suspect that the figure of 20% of those visiting pediatricians needing mental health care may be significantly low whether or not the Attention Deficit and ADHD figures, very real, are included, and not counting Asberger's and autism on the rise for some reason we don't know. I dealt with a lot of actively suicidal children from pre-school up, and one eight year old here I did not know, among others, killed himself. I'm a conservative Republican on most issues and this is one reason many of us joined liberals of both parties in fighting for mental health parity. It's a pro-life thing.

It was at a State Bar continuing education program on Mental Health Law that a prominent local attorney, son of a former judge, announced, to my horror and that of some others who, like me, I knew had needed and sought therapy and antidepressant treatment, suicidal depression, etc., which do work, particularly in combination, that he did not believe in suicide prevention and instead believed in euthanasia, and "forced euthanasia" of all "mental patients." Having long gone public, after being involved in winning Texas' first doctor-patient and psychotherapist-client privacy laws, about the benefits of my own treatment for severe and intermittently suicidal depression since before first grade, I looked around at some others I knew, gave momentary thought to responding with a rousing Nazi "Seig! Heil!," but we just shuddered. In hindsight, I wish I had followed my first instinct.

Despite some programs to promote health in rural areas, etc., there are not nearly enough good mental health providers and out-patient or in-patient resources available for love or money, either in cities or small towns, and costs are prohibitive unless you find some of the resources I was glad to see your article mention. We need more public and private mental health care. School counselors should be on the front line under the Bush and the Democrats' plans, but most have limited training and are loaded down with No Child Left Behind and state testing, etc. and have little or not time to do either mental health or vocational counseling, both of which are desperately needed and hard to get.

Attorney-client and therapeutic confidentiality prevent me from publishing some facts and names I would love to publish, but better detection and action against child abuse, which i found in a large percentage of mental illness and related cases I handled, and better mental health care for the survivors thereof and others whose mental health problems had other causes, would pay for themselves in reducing lost productivity, other medical care costs with roots in mental health problems, etc.

Peter S. Chamberlain of TX 10:39PM February 04, 2009