The California Behavioral Health Planning Council (Council) is under federal and state mandate to advocate on behalf of adults with severe mental illness and children with severe emotional disturbance and their families. The Council is also statutorily required to advise the Legislature on behavioral health issues, policies and priorities in California. The Council advocates for an accountable system of seamless, responsive services that are strength-based, consumer and family member driven, recovery oriented, culturally and linguistically responsive and cost effective. Council recommendations promote cross-system collaboration to address the issues of access and effective treatment for the recovery, resiliency and wellness of Californians living with severe mental illness.
The purpose of this report is to describe the observations and findings of the California Behavioral Health Planning Council (CBHPC) on the behavioral health (BH) needs and services for the children, youth, and transition age youth (TAY)1 who are served by the public mental health (MH) system in California. This report includes responses by local county advisory board members to the 2016 Data Notebook issued by the CBHPC.
We chose to focus on children and youth because of the prevalence of mental disorders and the widespread experience of community and individual trauma as a complicating factor. It’s estimated that 5%, or more, of California’s 9 million children are affected by a MH-related condition. Of these, only one-third to one-half receive any MH services to treat their symptoms. Nationally, one of the top ten reasons 2 for hospitalization of children is for MH disorders. However, in California these disorders now comprise the number one reason for hospitalization of children ages 1-17.
Early intervention and treatment can change the trajectory of long-term chronic serious mental illness. That assumption underlies “Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment” (EPSDT) programs that define certain MH services for children and youth up to age 21 under the Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal in California.
To read the full report, click here.
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