Biden Administration provides millions of dollars for children's mental health
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The Biden administration announced millions of dollars in new funding to support mental health awareness, treatment, and training as students return to school after another pandemic year. Xavier Becerra, Health and Human Services Secretary, is expected to announce the funds Friday morning at Children's Hospital New Orleans.
American Rescue Plan funds of $10.7 million were used to fund the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program. This program trains primary care providers how to refer and treat children with mental health problems. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is also providing grants totaling $74.2 million to help raise awareness and train school personnel and program coordinators for young people with mental disorders.
In a statement that Becerra shared with NPR ahead of the announcement, Becerra stated that "the COVID-19 pandemic had taken a toll upon all of us, particularly children." "This crucial funding will not only improve children's livelihoods and their families, but also ensure the country's future. We will continue to invest in our children's future so that they grow up healthy and strong.
Children in mental health crises have been increasing in number in emergency rooms across the country since the outbreak of the pandemic. Over the past year, psychiatrists, child and adolescent psychologists, and psychiatrists saw more children with anxiety, depression and eating disorders.
Students are now returning to school, a transition that can prove difficult for students, their families and teachers. Dr. Warren Ng is the president-elect of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "Kids can be resilient but they still need support."
Ng is optimistic about the new investment made in the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program. It meets children where they are: "Whether that's at their schools or in their pediatric primary care practices," Ng says. The program will expand from 21 to 40 states, D.C. and several other territories with Friday's announcement.
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He explains that pediatric access programs "allow us to maximize our expertise as child- and adolescent psychologists." He says that there aren’t enough child psychiatrists available to help all children in need. A stigmatized population may not be able to visit a child psychiatrist or mental health provider. However, they can trust their pediatricians and we can use that relationship to facilitate a dialogue about your child's anxiety, depression, or suicide thoughts and actions.
Project AWARE stands for Advancing Wellbeing and Resilience in Education. Another program that was announced in the announcement is Project AWARE. This project will distribute $54.3 million in grants. It aims to raise awareness among state and local governments about mental health problems among school-aged children and train school personnel to recognize mental health issues and connect students with the right services.
Children's Mental Health Initiative will award the final grant. This initiative focuses on community-based services to children and teens with severe behavioral health problems. In the first year, eleven grant recipients will be awarded $19.8 millions.
Dr. Ujjwal RAMtekkar, Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus, Oh. The funding announcement was described as being "exactly aligned to key targets for investment in teleconsultation [and] schools with a focus of consultation and training so we increase the workforce, point-of-care accessibility for kids in these settings."
Ng believes that the funding amount "is a step towards the destination, but not a necessary one." There has been a lot of underinvestment in child mental healthcare over the years. "You need to invest and build the rest of the care system that provides urgent/crisis, intensive treatment and long-term care," Ng says.
He said, in other words, that "more is definitely required".
