State moves to identify child mental health problems

Prevention is less expensive than later treatment

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — New York State is launching a program aimed at identifying mental health problems among students before the students start showing up in clinics or courts.

Joseph Todora, executive director of the Sullivan County Department of Community Services, told lawmakers on Thursday, August 10 that a new program called Clinic Plus is being developed this fall. The program, aimed at students in grades five through eight, will be designed to identify and treat possible mental health problems at the earliest stages, with the hope that timely treatment will prevent small problems from becoming large ones.

Information on the New York Office of Mental Health website said the average age of onset for serious mental illness in adults is 14, and that both identification of the disorder and treatment are delayed for an average of six years. This delayed access, according to the site, inhibits development and can lead to serious social difficulties.

Todora said the program will be strictly voluntary, and parental consent is needed before any child can participate. He said the state would be developing a form that students will fill out to help identify possible problems. If the form points to a problem, such as excessive anger or depression, county staffers will have three sessions to determine the nature and severity of the condition, and up to nine sessions to treat the student.

Todora said that under the program, social workers would go into the community for home visits. He said the state would give money to the county to cover the costs and he said, “It’s been decades since we got any state aid for this sort of service.”

At the meeting of the county Health and Human Services Committee, legislator Rodney Gaebel expressed concern that the program would cost taxpayers money.

Todora said it would cost the county money in terms of the Medicaid payments made to the state, but since those payments are now capped, the money would not be an issue.

Carol Ryan, director of public health, said, “If you prevent just one or two children from being hospitalized” the savings to the county and society would be significant.

Gregory Feicht, commissioner of family services, said, “I’m glad to see the office of mental health stepping up the plate on this.” He said there are children with mental health issues currently housed in facilities outside the state who don’t belong in those facilities, and that the cost to the county is significant.

Legislator Leni Binder, who was formerly the chairman of the committee, said prevention is critical in addressing the problem. She said, for instance, if a student becomes a sexual predator it can cost up to $100,000 per year to have that student housed at a licensed facility, and the courts mandate such housing.

She admitted, however, that it’s sometimes difficult to show that such programs are producing results. “It was the same with the teen pregnancy program a few years ago,” she said. “How do you point out the teens who didn’t get pregnant?”

Todora said the program would be “ramping up” over the next year, and he would be meeting with the superintendents of all the Sullivan County school systems this September.