News Mashup for April 2021
The Pandemic, School Re-opening, and Student Mental Health
“As schools reopen, students return to more than just academics” opines Karin Demarest in a Press Democrat article published on April 30, 2021. As Chair of Cradle to Career Sonoma County, Demarest urges schools and communities to focus on the mental health needs of returning students, citing a recent YouthTruth survey that revealed elevated levels of anxiety and depression in teens.
In an April 15 interview with YouthTruth Executive Director Jen Vorse Wilka, Alia Wong of USA TODAY writes that “mental health challenges won't magically disappear once students trickle back into school buildings.” Journalist and licensed psychotherapist Tori Rodriguez in the April 30 issue of Psychiatry Advisor likewise cautions that when students do return to school it won’t be business as usual. Returning students will face stressful and disruptive restrictions, like mandatory mask orders, social distancing, and canceled activities.
Amidst growing concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on California students, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (45th District ) introduced measure AB 309 in January 2021 to address a “student mental health crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Co-authored by Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (70th District and Chair of the Assembly Education Committee), AB 309 requires the California Department of Education to create a model mental health referral protocol to help educators better identify students with mental health needs and quickly and efficiently connect them with appropriate services. The measure was unanimously approved by the Committee on EDUCATION and passed to APPROPRIATIONS on April 28, 2021. Click on the links below to learn more.
Karin Demarest. April 30, 2021. Close to Home: As schools reopen, focus on mental health. The Press Democrat. Retrieved April 30, 2021 from https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/opinion/close-to-home-as-schools-reopen-focus-on-mental-health/.
Tori Rodriguez. April 30, 2021. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Adolescent Mental Health. PsychiatryAdvisor. Retrieved April 30, 2021 from https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/child-adolescent-psychiatry/adolescent-mental-health-issues-are-further-exacerbated-by-the-covid-19-pandemic/.
Cathy Carter. April 19, 2021. Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Toll On Teen Mental Health. WUSF Public Media. Retrieved April 29, 2021 from https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2021-04-19/coronavirus-pandemic-takes-toll-on-teen-mental-health.
Sami Edge. April 11, 2021. Idaho’s approach to school mental health was already scattered. Then COVID hit. IDEDNEWS. Retrieved April 29, 2021 from https://www.idahoednews.org/top-news/idahos-approach-to-school-mental-health-was-already-scattered-then-covid-hit/.
National Federation of Families. April, 2021. Education and Mental Health During COVID-19. Retrieved April 23 from https://files.constantcontact.com/fa3e9a0a001/fc8696d3-443a-41f8-b8c9-0bf682a9ac59.pdf.
Cratty, D. 2019. School Counselors Matter. The Education Trust. Retrieved April 29, 2021 from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/b079d17d-6265-4166-a120-3b1f56077649/School-Counselors-Matter.pdf.
Rogers, A. A., Ha, T., & Ockey, S. (2021) Adolescents’ Perceived Socio-Emotional Impact of COVID-19 and Implications for Mental Health: Results from a U.S.-Based Mixed-Methods Study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(1), 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.09.039
Rae Jacobson. April 13, 2021. Encouraging Optimism: Help kids navigate the last uncertain phase of the pandemic. Child Mind Institute. Retrieved April 29, 2021 from https://childmind.org/article/encouraging-optimism/.
Left Untreated, Mental Health Disorders Have Long-term Impact on Juvenile Justice Involved Youth
A study published this month in JAMA Pediatrics showed that psychiatric disorders can persist for years in juvenile justice involved youth. In a longitudinal cohort study of 1,829 youths who were detained in a juvenile justice facility, Northwestern Medicine researchers found that about two-thirds of males and one-third of females with pre-existing psychiatric disorders still had at least one disorder 15 years after release. Lingering disruptive behavior and substance use were the most commonly observed ailments. Compared with African Americans and Hispanics, Non-Hispanic whites had the greatest odds of persistent disorders. In an April interview with EurekAlert! Science News, the study’s lead author, Linda Teplin, Professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University remarked "Clearly, we must expand mental health services during detention and when these youth return to their communities. We must also encourage pediatricians and educators to advocate for early identification and treatment of psychiatric disorders." Click on the links below to learn more.
Linda A. Teplin, Lauren M. Potthoff, David A. Aaby. April 5, 2021. Prevalence, Comorbidity, and Continuity of Psychiatric Disorders in a 15-Year Longitudinal Study of Youths Involved in the Juvenile Justice System. JAMA Extended Abstract. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2778226. Full Text: doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5807.
EurekAlert!, American Association for the Advancement of Science. April 5, 2021. Study finds psychiatric disorders persist 15 years after youth are detained. News Release. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/nu-sfp040121.php.
Joe Gramigna. April 6, 2021. Persistent psychiatric disorders impact outcomes for youths in juvenile justice system. Healio. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20210406/persistent-psychiatric-disorders-impact-outcomes-for-youths-in-juvenile-justice-system.
Robert Preidt. April 7, 2021. Jail Dims Hopes for Recovery for Young People With Mental Illness. HealthDay. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://consumer.healthday.com/b-4-7-when-young-people-with-a-mental-illness-are-incarcerated-hope-of-recovery-dims-2651323853.html.
Rockett, Darcell. April 27, 2021. Untreated traumas in arrested juveniles linger 15 years past incarceration, Northwestern study finds. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 30, 2021 from https://www.chicagotribune.com/living/health/ct-health-youth-incarceration-psychiatric-disorders-0427-20210427-mi5b4s6i3zdoxn52ds5agjxpyy-story.html.
Non-Compliance with Federal Law Pertaining to Children’s Mental Health
This month the American Journal of Manage Care released a podcast featuring Dr. Benjamin F. Miller, chief strategy officer for Well Being Trust and lead author of the recent report Coverage of Services to Promote Children’s Mental Health. In the podcast, Dr. Miller discusses how well private and public insurers are complying with federal law under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The full report, which is a joint publication of Well Being Trust, California’s Children’s Trust, and Mental Health America, concludes that “current state Medicaid and commercial health insurance payment policies likely fail to adequately reimburse for effective interventions to promote positive family mental health, and that this failure violates current law.”
These results parallel a recent analysis of 2013-2017 commercial health insurance data commissioned by the Mental Health Treatment and Research Institute arm of the Bowman Family Foundation. The authors of the report, Steve Melek, Stoddard Davenport, and T.J. Gray found that “disparities exist in both network use and provider reimbursement level when comparing behavioral healthcare to medical/surgical [physical] health care,” pointing to non-compliance with MHPAEA.
The Kennedy Forum and NAMI published The Health Insurance Appeals Guide in April to empower individuals to better understand their rights under MHPAEA and how to appeal a denial of coverage. To learn more click on the links below.
American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC). April 20, 2021. Removing Barriers to Mental Health Care for Children and Teenagers. AJMC Managed Care Cast. Retrieved April 29, 2021 from https://www.ajmc.com/view/removing-barriers-to-mental-health-care-for-children-and-teenagers.
Counts, N. Z., Walker-Harding, L. R., & Miller, B. F. (2020). Coverage of Services to Promote Children’s Mental Health: Analysis of State and Insurer Non-Compliance with Current Federal Law: Analysis of State and Insurer Non-Compliance with Current Federal Law. Well Being Trust. Retrieved April 29, 2020 from https://wellbeingtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Coverage-of-Services-to-Promote-Childrens-Mental-Health.pdf.
Carneal, G., Covington, M., Eckman, J. April 22, 2021. The Health Insurance Appeals Guide: A Consumer Guide for Filing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder (MH/SUD) Appeals. The Kennedy Forum and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Retrieved April 30, 2021 from https://www.thekennedyforum.org/app/uploads/2021/04/KF-NAMI-Appeals-Guide-April-2021-final.pdf.
Melek, S., Davenport, S., Gray, T.J. November 19, 2019. Addiction and mental health vs. physical health: Widening disparities in network use and provider reimbursement. Millimam for the Mental Health Treatment and Research Institute, LLC. Retrieved April 29, 2021 from https://www.milliman.com/en/insight/Addiction-and-mental-health-vs-physical-health-Widening-disparities-in-network-use-and-p.
Racial Disparities in the Child Welfare System
In an April 1 California Health Report article, Jeremy Loudenback reviewed recent programs aimed at eliminating racial bias in decisions about whether to remove a child from their parents due to alleged neglect or abuse. “Driven by evidence that child welfare decision-makers judge parents of color more harshly and are more likely to remove their children, calls for systemic change have grown more urgent among parent advocates, scholars and even agency leaders” says Loudenback. Loudenback points to a pilot study by Jessica Pryce, director of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare at the Florida State University College, in which the removal of Black children from their homes dropped from 57% to 21% when social workers did not know the race of the family. Several counties have recently incorporated a “color-blind removal” process into their child welfare programs, including counties in Florida, New York, Michigan and Minnesota. In California, a 2021-2022 legislative bill—AB 656—requiring the State Department of Social Services to establish a 3-year pilot project on color-blind removal was introduced by Assemblymembers Wendy Carrillo (District 51) and Kevin McCarty (District 7). AB 656 was sent to the committee on HUMAN SERVICES after amendment on April 7, 2021, but was subsequently paused to allow social workers and others to provide input on the legislation. Click on the links below to learn more.
Jeremy Loudenback. April 1, 2021. Color Blind Ambition. California Health Report. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://www.calhealthreport.org/2021/04/01/color-blind-ambition/.
CommonWealth Magazine. April 5, 2021. Race-blind decision-making could reduce racial disparities in child welfare system. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://commonwealthmagazine.org/uncategorized/race-blind-decision-making-could-reduce-racial-disparities-in-child-welfare-system/.
Shaquita L. Bell. April 21, 2021. Struggling families deserve help, not punishment. Hawaii Tribune-Herald. Retrieved April 29, 2021 from https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2021/04/21/opinion/struggling-families-deserve-help-not-punishment/.
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. October 1, 2020. Annual Report FY2020: Descriptive and Outcome Data FY2016 – FY2020. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://www.mass.gov/doc/dcf-annual-reportfy2020/download.
Shira Schoenberg. February 21, 2021. Why are Latinos so overrepresented in the state child welfare system? CommonWealth Magazine. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://commonwealthmagazine.org/courts/why-are-latinos-so-overrepresented-in-the-state-child-welfare-system/.
Gender-Affirming Care of Transgender Youth
On April 1 the ACLU reported that “in 2020, 15 states introduced legislation that would ban — and in some instances criminalize — access to health care for transgender youth. The Arkansas legislature passed such a bill into law on March 29 and 16 other states introduced similar legislation this year.” On April 14, the Endocrine Society weighed in, as did several advocacy groups, condemning these recent efforts to block access to medical care for transgender youth, stating that “medical evidence, not politics, should inform treatment decisions.” Click on the links below to learn more.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) April 1, 2021. Doctors Agree: Gender-Affirming Care is Life-Saving Care. ACLU News & Commentary. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/doctors-agree-gender-affirming-care-is-life-saving-care/.
Endocrine Society. April 14, 2021. Endocrine Society condemns efforts to block access to medical care for transgender youth. Retrieved April 30, 2021 from https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-advocacy/news-room/2021/endocrine-society-condemns-efforts-to-block-access-to-medical-care-for-transgender-youth.
Samantha Singal. April 7, 2021. Anti-Transgender bill ignores the rights and humanity of Tennessee's youth | Opinion. Tennessean. Retrieved April 28, 2021 from https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2021/04/07/anti-transgender-bill-neglects-rights-tennessee-youth/7115906002/.
Kim Chandler. April 22, 2021. Families, Doctors Urge Alabama to Reject Trans Treatment Ban. Retrieved April 30, 2021 from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/949787?src=wnl_edit_tpal&uac=409113PG&impID=3330786&faf=1.
More Stories in April: Suicidal thoughts are increasing in young kids, experts say NBC News -4.8.21; Creating an Agenda for Children’s Resiliency and Health Health Affairs Blog – 4.21.21; 5 Ways COVID Has Changed Children's Mental Health Psychology Today – 4.7.21; Science Plays the Long Game. But People Have Mental Health Issues Now New York Times – 4.1.21; The Price of Poverty in North Carolina’s Juvenile Justice System North Carolina Poverty Research Fund, UNC School of Law - April 2021.
