1997 Community Guide

Children's Mental Health

Vision Statement

Summary

Critical Conditions

Desired Community Impacts

Strategies

Outcomes

Vision

Travis County will be a community which is aware of children's mental health issues and supports the measurable improvement of the mental health of children and their families through a clearly defined continuum of prevention, early intervention, and treatment services that are family-focused and culturally competent.

Summary

The are five major planning areas including:

• Community awareness of youth mental health issues.
• Program development through a family-driven, coordinated needs assessment.
• Enhanced Community Resource Coordination Groups (CRCG) to serve high needs children and families.
• Emphasis on a family-focused, culturally competent, comprehensive continuum of prevention, early intervention and treatment services.
• Maximization of resources.

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Critical Conditions

• One in five children in the U.S. has a mental, emotional or behavioral problem and one in 20 children has a serious emotional disturbance that impairs their ability to function. Two-thirds of these children do not receive the help they need. (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)
• A juvenile offender with mental health needs who receives no aftercare treatment has one of the highest recidivism rates of any juvenile offender population group. (Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments)
• Sixty percent (60%) of all juveniles referred to out-of-home placement had a mental health, mental retardation or substance abuse diagnosis. (Travis County Juvenile Court)
• Thirty percent (30%) of annual admissions to the Texas Youth Commission have a serious emotional disturbance. (Travis County Juvenile Court)
• There is a correlation of children's mental health problems related to child maltreatment, family dynamics, divorce, domestic violence and other family/environmental stresses. The judicial system has reported an increase in the number of child abuse and neglect cases in the past year. (Travis County Juvenile Court)
  
• Between 1950 and 1992, suicide among adolescents and young adults has nearly tripled. (Nemours Foundation, 1996)
• From 1980 to 1992, suicide among American teens age 15 to 19 years rose 28.3%, increasing from 1,797 to 1,847. During that same time period, the suicide rate for children age ten to 14 years has grown 120 percent. (Nemours Foundation, 1996)
• In 1992, the last year for which statistics are available, 304 children ten to 14 years old killed themselves. (Nemours Foundation, 1996)
• According to a 1993 survey of 16,000 high school students across the country, 24.1% of students interviewed had seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous year; 19% had made a specific plan, and 8.6% (one in 12 students) had attempted suicide. Of those who attempted suicide, 2.7% reported that medical attention and treatment had been required. (Nemours Foundation)

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Desired Community Impacts

A. Early identification and treatment of children with mental health needs.

B. Increase access to child and family mental health services.

C. Reduce the child/youth suicide rate.

D. Reduce the percentage of children whose mental health problems negatively impact their school performance.

E. Increase the percentage of children's mental health services that are family-focused.

F. Reduce stress, dysfunction, and abusive behaviors in children and families.

G. Reduce referrals of children with mental health needs to juvenile justice.

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Strategies

A. Maintain an updated resource pool with information about treatment of children with mental health needs.

B. Collaborate with existing entities to provide education on children's mental health for those working directly with children and expand involvement to reduce duplication of efforts.

C. Inform the community about available services for children and their families.

D. Recruit, educate, and retain diverse, culturally competent and multi-lingual staff.

E. Identify and address barriers to access of the service delivery system.

F. Design, implement, and evaluate school-based mental health services.

G. Train educators to work more effectively with children with mental health needs.

H. Increase availability and access to respite care services.

I. Use client and family input to ensure that all services value family strengths.

J. Create a purchasing alliance to provide comprehensive, cost efficient, integrated services to youth.

K. Increase wraparound and home-based services to improve parenting skills and improve family functioning.

L. Provide first time offender services to prevent further criminal justice involvement.

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Outcomes

A. Increased rate of individuals with enhanced knowledge/skills about children's mental health issues following educational community presentations.

B. Decreased Travis County rate of youth suicide.

C. Increased rate of children's school attendance.

D. Increased percentage of children with improved academic performance.

E. Increased rate of children who are transferred from Special Education to a less restrictive classroom setting.

F. Decreased rate of school discipline referrals.

G. Increased rate of parents/families reporting they have received appropriate and comprehensive services.

H. Increased percentage of parents demonstrating improved parenting skills.

I. Decreased number of children who are severely impaired by mental illness.

J. Increased percentage of children who can function better as a result of receiving services.

K. Increased service options.

L. Decreased rate of children involved with the juvenile justice system

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