News Mashup for September 2022
Historic Drop In Child Poverty
The Census Bureau issued its annual report on poverty this month. It showed that, in 2021, child poverty dropped to the lowest level ever recorded. According to the Census Bureau, The American Rescue Plan Act and the expanded Child Tax Credit lifted millions of children out of poverty. Improvements were seen across all racial groups.
Also this month, a deep dive into a quarter-of-a-century of Census Bureau data by The New York Times and the non-partisan research group Child Trends shows that between 1993 and 2019 child poverty dropped by 59%. Child poverty fell in almost every state and across the full spectrum of race, ethnicity, family structure, and immigration status. Their analysis showed that government safety-net programs were the dominant drivers of declining child poverty, but, lower unemployment, more single mothers in the workforce, and increased state-level minimum wages also contributed.
Click on the links below to learn more.
Dana Thomson, Renee Ryberg, Kristen Harper, James Fuller, Katherine Paschall, Jody Franklin, and Lina Guzman. September 2022. Lessons from a historic decline in child poverty. Child Trends. Retrieved September 30, 2022 from https://www.childtrends.org/publications/lessons-from-a-historic-decline-in-child-poverty .
Jason DeParle. September 11, 2022. Expanded safety net drives sharp drop in child poverty. The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2022 from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/11/us/politics/child-poverty-analysis-safety-net.html .
United States Census Bureau. September 13, 2022. Income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the United States: 2021. Press Release Number CB22-153. Retrieved September 21, 2022 from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/income-poverty-health-insurance-coverage.html .
Priya Pandey, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Lorena Roque, Suma Setty, Juliana Zhou, Alejandra Londono Gomez and Alycia Hardy. September 14, 2022. Historic 2021 decline in child poverty proves effectiveness of federal investments. CLASP. Retrieved September 21, 2022 from https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022.9.14_Historic-2021-Decline-in-Child-Poverty-Proves-Effectiveness-of-Federal-Investments.pdf .
Ashley Burnside, Bruce Fuller, and Qifan Zhang. September 12, 2022. How parents use the Child Tax Credit, and implications of ended monthly payments key findings, July 2022 continental U.S. survey. CLASP. Retrieved September 21, 2022 from https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Continental-CTC-Survey-3-Topline-Findings-1-1.pdf .
Marian Wright Edelman. September 16, 2022. Doing what works to end child poverty. Children’s Defense Fund. Retrieved September 22, 2022 from https://www.childrensdefense.org/child-watch-columns/health/2022/doing-what-works-to-end-child-poverty/ .
Review Of Antipsychotic Use In The California Foster Care System
Research published this month in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology examined the impact of California’s 2015 reform measures aimed at improving regulation and oversight of antipsychotic medications prescribed to foster youth. The reform was prompted by research conducted by foster youth advocates, including the Oakland-based National Center for Youth Law, and a 2014 exposé by the Bay Area News Group into excessive use of antipsychotics and on physician’s ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
The new study showed an approximate 58% statewide decline in foster care antipsychotics use. Declines occurred across all age groups, genders, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and occurred in all regions of California. In an interview with The Imprint, the lead author, Dr. Julio Nunes, said that “By reducing these prescriptions for the children who don’t need them, California may have given them more opportunities to thrive.”
The authors note, however, “that lack of adherence to authorization and metabolic screening requirements continues to be concerning” given the known side effects of antipsychotics, which include significant weight gain and predisposition to diabetes mellitus type 2. Their analysis shows that 22% of the California foster youth taking antipsychotics in 2020 did not receive screening for potential metabolic disorders as specified by the state under the California Quality Improvement Project.
Click on the links to learn more.
Julio C. Nunes, Toni Naccarato, and Randall S. Stafford. September 2022. Antipsychotics in the California foster care system: A 10-Year analysis. Journal Of Child And Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Volume 32, Number 7. DOI: 10.1089/cap.2022.0040. Retrieved September 21, 2022 from https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/cap.2022.0040 .
Jeremy Loudenback and Michael Fitzgerald. September 12, 2022. California is using fewer antipsychotic drugs on its abused and neglected children. What’s behind the dramatic decline? The Mercury News. Retrieved September 21, 2022 from https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/09/11/california-is-using-fewer-antipsychotic-drugs-on-its-abused-and-neglected-children-whats-behind-the-dramatic-decline/ .
Jeremy Loudenback and Michael Fitzgerald. September 11, 2022. Prescribing antipsychotic drugs to California foster youth declines dramatically. The Imprint. Retrieved September 30, 2022 from https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/prescribing-antipsychotic-drugs-to-california-foster-youth-declines/150795 .
California Departments of Social Services (CDSS) and Health Care Services (DHCS). January 2022. California guidelines for the use of psychotropic medication with children and youth in foster care: 2018 Edition. Retrieved September 30, 2022 from https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/HCPCFC/Documents/CA-Guidelines-for-Use-of-Psychotropic-Medication-3-23-22.pdf .
Elaine Corry. October 8, 2015. California approves laws to cut use of antipsychotics in foster care. NPR-KQED. Retrieved September 30, 2022 from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/10/08/446619645/calfornia-approves-laws-to-cut-use-of-antipsychotics-in-foster-care .
Legislative Thumbs Up — Thumbs Down
California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, capped the legislative year signing into law the following bills related to youth mental health in September:
AB 1759 — Board of Behavioral Sciences: licensees and registrants: marriage and family therapy, educational psychology, clinical social work, and professional clinical counseling. This bill, introduced by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, establishes continuing education requirements for licensees providing telehealth mental health services under the Board of Behavioral Sciences. See full Bill Analysis here
AB 1051 — Medi-Cal: specialty mental health services: foster children. This bill, introduced by Assemblymember Steve Bennett “Requires a foster child or probation-supervised youth’s county of original jurisdiction to retain responsibility to arrange and provide specialty mental health services if placed out of the county of original jurisdiction.” See full Bill Analysis here.
AB 2273 — California age-appropriate design code act. This bi-partisan bill introduced by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks and Jordan Cunningham “requires businesses with an online presence to complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment before offering new online services, products, or features likely to be accessed by children.” See summary of the bill here.
AB 2581– Health care coverage: mental health and substance use disorders: provider credentials. Assemblymember Rudy Salas introduced the bill to establish credentialing timelines, emphasizing that “Currently, there is no timeline set in California law for health plans to credential MH care providers, with some individuals waiting up to six months or longer to have their completed application processed.” See full Bill Analysis here.
Children’s Mental Health related bills receiving the Governor’s thumbs-down in September, include:
AB 2666 — Behavioral health internship grant program. The bill would have allocated stipends to students in behavioral health fields who are participating in internships or completing licensure hours at federally qualified health centers. The Governor said it was duplicative of California’s recent efforts in this area.
AB-552 — Integrated School-Based Behavioral Health Partnership Program. The bill aimed to help children with private insurance access mental health care at school. The Governor said that the program would be duplicative of the Children and Youth’s Behavioral Health Initiative, which takes effect in 2024.
AB-2281 — Early Childhood Mental Health Services Act. The bill aimed to establish the Early Childhood Mental Health Services Act specific to children age 0-5. The bill would have awarded grants to county mental health or behavioral health departments to fund partnerships between educational and county mental health entities with functionality similar to the Mental Health Student Services Act. The Governor said that the bill would require funding not appropriated in the year’s Budget Act.
Audit Of Medi-Cal Preventive Services For Youth
On September 13, California’s Acting State Auditor, Michael Tilden, sent a letter to Governor Newsom outlining failures in delivering preventive services to youth under California's Medicaid health care program (Medi-Cal). Tilden reports that “less than 50 percent of the children in Medi-Cal have received the required preventive services that would help ensure that they live healthier, more productive lives.” The letter follows a March 2019 audit report examining the Department of Health Care Services’ (DHCS) oversight of preventive services for Medi-Cal youth. The September audit found that while DHCS made some progress in implementing the 2019 recommendations, eight of the fourteen recommendations are unfulfilled.
Click on the link below to learn more:
Acting California State Auditor Michael S. Tilden. September 13, 2022. The Department of Health Care Services is still not doing enough to ensure that children in Medi-Cal receive preventive health services. Office of the Auditor of the State of California. Retrieved September 27, 2022 from http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2022-502/index.html .
More Stories in September: We need more health clinics at schools Scientific American — 09.01.2022; A disabled young patient was sent to get treatment. He was abused instead. And he wasn’t the last ProPublica — 09.02.2022; The landscape of school-based mental health service Kaiser Family Foundation —09.06.2022; Unanswered cries: Why California faces a shortage of mental health workers CalMatters 09.08.2022; The economic burden of mental health inequities in the United States Satcher Health Leadership Institute — 09.12.2022; Why it's hard for twice exceptional ADHDers to get support Psychology Today — 09.12.2022; The kids are not alright: Pediatric mental health care utilization from 2016–2021 Clarify Health Institute — 09.12.202; US Dept. of Justice official expressed concerns over state’s ‘problematic’ plan to move kids to Angola, offered assistance The LENS — 09.12.2022; A trusting relationship between school, home is essential for excellent outcomes in special education EdSource — 09.14.2022; State investigation reveals racial disparities in student discipline and police involvement ProPublica — 09.14.2022; ‘You can’t get out’: Mentally ill languish in California jails without trial or treatment L.A. Times — 09.14.2022; How students get access to mental health services at school The Hill — 09.14.2022; California governor OKs mental health courts for homeless ABC News — 09.14.2022; Why it's so hard for kids in crisis to access the mental health care they need in Santa Clara County Mountain View Voice — 09.15.2022; Experiences of victimization among Latinos: Studies confirm significant victim mental health impact and mistrust of authorities National Institute of Justice — 09.16.2022; Kids adopt different ways of coping in wake of the pandemic PNAS — 09.16.2022; HHS targeting mental health pay parity in new roadmap Healthcare Finance — 09.19.2022; Child maltreatment WHO — 09.19.2022; California missed an opportunity to protect children from social media California Health Report 09.19.2022; Getting it right: How other states have fixed broken child welfare systems NPR Illinois State University — 09.19.2022; Mental health is political New York Times — 09.20.2022; Many children are regularly exposed to gun violence. Here's how to help them heal NRP-KQED — 09.20.2022; As Sacramento schools try to address the mental health crisis, vulnerable students suffer EdSource — 09.22.2022; San Diego County seeks shift away from locked psychiatric units. ‘The change that we need in behavioral health is dramatic’ The San Diego Union-Tribune — 09.24.2022; The war-zone mentality — mental health effects of gun violence in U.S. children and adolescents New England Journal of Medicine — 09.24.2022; New $12 million NIMH grant funds center to improve delivery of child mental health services Today UC San Diego — 09.26.2022; Young people’s health and well-being during the school-to-work transition BMC Public Health — 09.26.2022; Black youth mental health: Will our kids be alright? The Observer — 09.27.2022.
