News Mashup for January 2021
Medicaid and CHIP COVID-19 Summaries
On Jan 15, 2021 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released preliminary Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) data covering the period from March 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020. The data release provides an analysis of COVID-19 related service utilization by beneficiaries. Thus far in the pandemic “primary, preventive, and mental health services declined among children age 18 and under starting in March 2020. Although rates are starting to rebound, millions of services still need to be delivered to make up for those missed between March and July 2020.” California, along with Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, and Massachusetts had the greatest decline in children mental health services over the reporting period. Click on the link below to learn more.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), January 2020, Medicaid and CHIP COVID-19 Summaries Preliminary Medicaid & CHIP Data Snapshot. CMS, Baltimore, Maryland. Retrieved January 15, 2021 from https://www.medicaid.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/covid19-data-snapshot.pdf.
NAS Report on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Wellbeing in Higher Education
This month the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) released a Consensus Study Report entitled Mental Health, Substance Use, and Wellbeing in Higher Education: Supporting the Whole Student. Over the course of an 18-month study period, a committee of NAS-appointed experts:
Identified and reviewed programs, practices, resources, and policies that institutions of higher education have developed to treat mental health issues and to support wellbeing on campuses;
Analyzed the challenges institutions face—including financial, cultural, and human resource obstacles and methods to address these challenges;
Investigated factors related to the funding of and access to mental health services and support for student wellbeing, such as student academic performance and campus climate;
Examined the relationship between student mental health, wellbeing, and rates of alcohol and drug use, and recommend ways in which institutions can address substance use and its effects on campus climate.
Upon conclusion of the study, the committee acknowledged that traditional campus counseling systems are under tremendous pressure to meet the rising rate of student mental health needs, but cautioned “no real progress will be made unless individual institutions decide to promote a climate that clearly values the wellbeing of every student” in tandem with scholastic success. Click on the links below to learn more.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Mental Health, Substance Use, and Wellbeing in Higher Education: Supporting the Whole Student. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Retrieved Jan 16, 2021 from https://doi.org/10.17226/26015.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. January 13, 2021. Colleges and Universities Need Campuswide Culture Change to Better Support Students’ Well-Being and Address Mental Health Problems. [News Release] National Academy of Sciences. Washington D.C., Retrieved January 16, 2021 from https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2021/01/colleges-and-universities-need-campuswide-culture-change-to-better-support-students-well-being-and-address-mental-health-problems.
Frueh, Sara. February 8, 2021. Changing Campus Cultures to Support Mental Health. [Feature Story] National Academy of Sciences. Washington D.C., Retrieved February 8, 2021 from https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2021/02/changing-campus-cultures-to-support-mental-health.
Children’s Mental Health, Not Education, Biggest Danger of Pandemic Lockdowns
Writing for Forbes Magazine, Nick Morrison cites a new study from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) to argue that declining mental health, rather than lagging academics, may have the greatest impact on students in the era of pandemic-driven school closures. According to Whitney Crenna-Jennings, author of the EPI report, “Personal wellbeing drops, on average, as children move from primary into secondary school, and continues to drop as children move through secondary school.” In tandem, the “social dimension of life” including the quality of relationships with peers, become increasingly important to their mental and emotional health. “Young people already face significant challenges at this stage” says Crenna-Jennings, as cited by Morrison in the Forbes article, and the isolation and disruption felt by students “have starved them of the vital relationships and experiences needed to support their journey through adolescence.”
Sarah Sparks, in the January 14 issue of Education Week reports on a complementary study published in the JAMA Network Open that underscores the vulnerability of adolescents to pandemic-related trauma. In a similar vein, Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, in the January 7 issue of MedScape writes about increases in children’s hospital visitation stemming from social isolation and loneliness, citing a Rapid Systematic Review on COVID-19 impacts published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in late 2020. Click on the links below to learn more.
Nick Morrison, Jan 26, 2021, It’s Children’s Mental Health, Not Their Education, That Is Really Suffering In Lockdown, According To UK Study. Forbes, Retrieved February 28, 2021 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2021/01/26/its-childrens-mental-health-not-their-education-that-is-really-suffering-in-lockdown/?sh=667c1c58423b.
Crenna-Jennings W. (2021) Young People’s Mental and Emotional Health: Trajectories and Drivers in Childhood and Adolescence. Education Policy Institute. London, England. Retrieved February 28, 2021 from https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EPI-PT_Young-people’s-wellbeing_Jan2021.pdf.
Sarah D. Sparks, 14 Jan 2021, What Student Age Groups Are Most Vulnerable to Pandemic-Related Trauma? EducationWeek, Retrieved February 27, 2021 from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-student-age-groups-are-most-vulnerable-to-pandemic-related-trauma/2021/01.
Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, January 7, 2021, Children's Hospitals Grapple with Wave of Mental Illness. Medscape. Retrieved February 25, 2021 from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/943756.
Andersen, S. H. (2021) Association of Youth Age at Exposure to Household Dysfunction with Outcomes in Early Adulthood. JAMA Network Open 4, e2032769. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774706.
Loades, M. E. et al. (2020) Rapid Systematic Review: The Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in the Context of COVID-19. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 59, 1218-1239.e3. https://jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(20)30337-3/fulltext.
More on California’s Far from Home, Far from Safe Investigation
Officials in counties across the state of California are now spending the $8 million dollars the California Legislature approved in December 2020, to recruit foster families and bolster mental health and behavioral support services for the 131 young people the state is calling back from troubled out-of-state residential programs. California moved to cut ties with out-of-state treatment facilities in early December, when investigative reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle and The Imprint reported rampant abuse at the facilities in the special report Far from Home, Far from Safe released on December 11, 2021. Click on the links below to learn more.
Joaquin Palomino, Cynthia Dizikes, and Sara Tiano, Jan 14, 2021, After abuse reports, California approves $8 million for youth returning from troubled treatment programs, San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 27, 2021 from https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/After-abuse-reports-California-approves-8-15869183.php.
Joaquin Palomino, Sara Tiano and Cynthia Dizikes, December 11, 2020, Far from home, far from safe. San Francisco Chronicle Special Report, Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2020/california-youth-sequel/
Update on California’s 2021-2022 Legislative Session
SB 224 Pupil Mental Health Education. This bill, introduced on January 14, 2021 by lead author Senator Anthony Portantino (25th Senate District) would provide pupils between the grades 1 and 12 with age appropriate mental health education from a qualified instructor at least once in Elementary, Middle and High school.
More Stories in January: Core Principles to Reframe Mental and Behavioral Health Policy Center for law and Policy - 1.11.21; Family First Legislation National Conference of State Legislatures - 1.15.21; New relief package offers hope for nation’s worsening mental health and addiction crisis The Kennedy Forum - 1.19.2; Foster Care Was Always Tough. Covid-19 Made It Tougher NYT – 1.8.2; Teens Talking with Teens About Mental Health Mott Poll Report – 1.18.21; Principles to Reframe Mental and Behavioral Health Policy The Center for Law and Social Policy – 1.11.21; Remote Instruction Tough on Foster Youth Seattle Times – 1.15.21; Pandemic Expansion of Telehealth Has Improved Access for Kids in Child Welfare System CityLimits – 1.27.21
