News Mashup for September 2023
Intergenerational Poverty And Children’s Mental Health
On September 12th, the U.S. Census Bureau released the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) data for 2022. The SPM report shows that the number of children living in poverty more than doubled over the past year, up from 3.83 M in 2021 to 8.98 M in 2022 reflecting, in part, the end of many pandemic-era assistance programs. For a family of four, with two children under the age of 18, the 2022 poverty threshold is $29,678.
It is well known that the toxic stress associated with sustained poverty affects early brain development and increases a child’s vulnerability to physical and mental illness. A recent model published in the Annual Reviews of Sociology links toxic stress to “impaired development of neural circuits involved in self-regulation of emotions and behavior” with effects that are particularly profound in early childhood. A child’s readiness for school, later academic performance, and, ultimately, their occupational success as an adult is compromised, and without mitigating social, educational, and economic factors, the result can be a cycle of poverty that crosses from one generation to the next.
This month, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a Consensus Study Report that examined the factors that drive long-term, intergenerational poverty and identified evidence-based policies and programs that can mitigate their effect within the domains of education, child and maternal health, family income and employment opportunity, housing and neighborhood development, neighborhood crime reduction, and criminal justice reforms. Policies such as increased K-12 spending in the poorest districts, reduction in exclusionary school discipline, removal of waiting periods for SNAP eligibility, increased funding for policing in high-crime neighborhoods, limiting juvenile confinement to only those youth who pose serious and immediate threat to public safety, expansion of Housing Choice Voucher programs and expanded access to Medicaid are but a few proven to be effective.
Click on the links below to learn more.
United States Census Bureau. September 12, 2023. Income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the United States: 2022. Press Release CB23-150. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/income-poverty-health-insurance-coverage.html.
Emily A. Shrider and John Creamer. September 12, 2023. Poverty in the United States: 2022. United States Census Bureau. Report No. P60-280. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.html.
Indivar Dutta-Gupta. September 12, 2023. Child poverty more than doubled in 2022, underscoring need for better policy. CLASP. Retrieved September 12, 2023 from https://www.clasp.org/press-room/press-releases/child-poverty-more-than-doubled-in-2022-underscoring-need-for-better-policy/.
Michael Fitzgerald. September 13, 2023. Child poverty spiked after pandemic aid ended last year, census shows. The Imprint. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/child-poverty-spiked-after-pandemic-aid-ended-last-year-census-shows/244528 .
National Academies. September 21, 2023. Reducing intergenerational poverty. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/27058/Highlights-ReducingIntergenerationalPoverty.pdf.
National Academies. September 21, 2023. New Report identifies policies to reduce intergenerational poverty in the U.S. National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2023/09/new-report-identifies-policies-to-reduce-intergenerational-poverty-in-the-u-s.
Craig A. McEwen and Bruce S. McEwen. 2017. Social structure, adversity, toxic stress, and intergenerational poverty: An early childhood model. Annual Reviews of Sociology. Retreieved September 30, 2023 from https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053252.
Disproportionate Access to SMHS for California’s Foster Youth
This month the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) published a review of Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health Services delivered to foster youth in the five California counties with the largest foster youth populations— Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Fresno, and Orange. NHeLP’s review of 2016 to 2021 data from the California Department of Health Care Services indicates that many young people are not receiving the care they are entitled to. While utilization rates of SMHS among children and youth have generally increased over the reporting period, there is significant variation in utilization rates between counties.
NHeLP’s review of county documents show that internal policies, procedures, and beneficiary-facing materials are not fully updated with respect to January 1, 2022 State policy reforms expanding foster youth access to Medi-Cal SMHS. NHeLP reports that “for over a year, all five counties continued to distribute MHP Beneficiary Handbooks that contained outdated and misleading information related to the SMHS access criteria and prior authorization, which could have deterred children and youth from attempting to access care.”
NHeLP surveyed health and child welfare advocates, mental health service providers, and child welfare social workers and found that nearly half of the respondents (44%) were unaware of the expanded Medi-Cal SMHS access criteria.
Click on the links below to learn more.
Carly Myers, Alexis Robles-Fradet, Abigail Coursolle, and T. Nancy Lam. September 28, 2023. Foster youth access to Medi-Cal specialty mental health services in the California counties with the largest foster care populations. National Health Law Program. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://healthlaw.org/resource/foster-youth-access-to-medi-cal-specialty-mental-health-services-in-the-california-counties-with-the-largest-foster-care-populations/.
Carly Myers and T. Nancy Lam. September 28, 2023. A review of policies, procedures, and benefciary-facing materials in the California counties with the largest foster care populations. National Health Law Program. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://healthlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CA-Foster-Youth-SMHS-Document-Review-Report.pdf.
Alexis Robles-Fradet, Abbi Coursolle, and T. Nancy Lam. September 28, 2023. A review of the data in California and the counties with the largest foster care populations. National Health Law Program. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://healthlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CA-Foster-Youth-SMHS-Data-Review-Report.pdf.
Carly Myers and T. Nancy Lam. September 28, 2023. Results from qualitative research in the California counties with the largest foster care populations. National Health Law Program. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://healthlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CA-Foster-Youth-SMHS-Qualitative-Report.pdf.
More Stories in September: The effect of web-based educational interventions on mental health literacy, stigma and help-seeking intentions/attitudes in young people: systematic review and meta-analysis Nature BMS Psychiatry — 09.04.2023; Unified, safe, and well: Building life-affirming systems for justice-impacted families CLASP — 09.06.2023; The questions that must be answered The Imprint — 09.05.2023; California spends $14 billion on people with disabilities: Why do some go without help? The Sacramento Bee — 09.07.2023; Keeping youth mental wellbeing in mind (Part 1) National Council for Mental Wellbeing — 09.07.2023; At Yale, a surge of activism forced changes in mental health policies The New York Times — 09.07.2023; Rebuilding family after foster care The Marshall Project — 09.07.2023; What happens when you take someone in a mental health crisis to the E.R.? NC Health News — 09.08.2023; These kids used to get the bill for their own foster care: Now that's changing WUSF NPR — 09.12.2023; Shortage of mental health services for teens forces parents to take desperate measures PBS — 09.12.2023; Child welfare ideas from the experts The Imprint — 09.12.2023; What will it take to solve the youth mental health crisis? The Nation — 09.13.2023; “Where is there to go?” He needs gender-affirming surgery, but his state is fighting to deny coverage ProPublica — 09.14.2023; Keeping youth mental wellbeing in mind (Part 2) National Council for Mental Wellbeing — 09.15.2023; Surviving the tiger pit: How a journalist’s family story pushed her to report on a failed mental health system MindSite News — 09.15.2023; Why society is increasingly turning to community schools to address the youth mental health crisis Nation of Change — 09.18.2023; Gavin Newsom’s mental health plan is going to voters: Here’s what you need to know CalMatters — 09.18.2023; Casey introduces legislation to support foster youth, expand educational resources and health care coverage Bob Casey U.S. Senate — 09.19.2023; Community schools address the youth mental health crisis LA Progressive — 09.20.2023; Being 13 The New York Times 09.20.2023; More college campuses leveraging the outdoors to support student mental health EdSource — 09.21.2023; As younger children increasingly die by suicide, better tracking and prevention is sought KFF Health News — 09.21.2023; Newsom vetoes bill on transgender acceptance in custody disputes, before signing other LGBTQ bills EdSource —09.25.2023; California democrats search for 'counter' to transgender reporting policies KQED NPR — 09.28.2023; The US has a mental health crisis that could undermine our democracy, US surgeons general say CNN — 09.28.2023;
