Bill seeks improvements to children’s mental health
T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - Center Associates Director Paul Daniel said children’s mental health services are a real need for Iowa, as is a higher number of mental health professionals.
T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - Center Associates has partnerships to provide mental health services to students in several area schools.
T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - Center Associates Director Paul Daniel said children’s mental health services are a real need for Iowa, as is a higher number of mental health professionals.
T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - Center Associates has partnerships to provide mental health services to students in several area schools.
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A bill to expand the state's mental health services for children being pushed by a local legislator is moving closer to becoming law.
Senate study bill 1197 and its House of Representatives counterpart have moved through the committee process in both chambers and now await amendments and, eventually, a vote of approval. The changes concentrate on the state's 14 mental health and disability services regions.
"They'll have to put out a new position for a children's coordinator and then they will have to have their own children's advisory board," said state Sen. Jeff Edler, R-State Center, who has been pushing the bill in the Senate.
The mental health regions each include several counties, and they are administered at the county level. Marshall County belongs to the Central Iowa Community Services region, which also includes Jasper, Poweshiek, Story, Hardin, Boone, Hamilton, Franklin, Greene, Madison and Warren counties.
The children's mental health system outlined in the bill will align with the existing adult mental health system in the regions. If the bill passes, each region will have to come up with and submit a plan to provide children's mental health services to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
Edler said the bill is meant to spark action when it comes to providing those services.
"The first is going to be prevention and early identification," he said.
Early intervention and education about mental health conditions, assessments and evaluations of patients, medical prescribing, behavioral health and outpatient therapy are also focuses of the bill.
There is focus on crisis services, including mobile and residential crisis stabilization and in-patient behavioral health services. Central Iowa Community Services has already begun that process by providing a mobile crisis response to alleviate pressure on local law enforcement when it comes to people suffering from a severe mental-health episode.
"This bill does not have a price tag on it currently because there is no appropriation," Edler said. "Its all the regions. But we are working on some sustainable funding mechanisms for the regions, like relaxing their spend-down and possibly rolling back the timeframe of the spend-down."
Center Associates Director Paul Daniel said there is a clear need for increased mental health services to children in Central Iowa.
"With kids, statistics show that one in six children between the ages 2 and 8 years have some form of mental health or behavioral disorder or developmental disorder," he said.
Daniel said cases of anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavioral issues and more can be serious challenges to children.
To help combat problems brought on by mental illness, Center Associates has partnered with several area school districts, including Marshalltown, Meskwaki, East Marshall and Green Mountain-Garwin.
"We see the need that is there with a lot of kids struggling with mental and emotional health issues," Daniel said.
In Marshalltown in particular, Daniel said some children were traumatized by the July 19 tornado, making some cases of existing mental illness worse or causing symptoms of anxiety in kids who didn't previously show signs.
He said the effort in the legislature is a good one and more money is needed to help provide mental health services throughout Iowa.
"The second thing is we need more mental health professionals," Daniel said. "We have a hard time recruiting them to Marshalltown, Iowa and we need enough resources here - from personnel to different types of educational opportunities - for us to become better-suited and equipped to work with children who are struggling."
Edler said part of the reason he took on leading this legislation in the Senate was because he listened to constituents' concerns.
"I think that children's behavioral health has really affected education, even parenting. It's something that we need to offer services for parents, for educators, really just to get out there and make a difference and make sure these children are maximizing their potential," he said.
In order to be passed into law, the bill must be agreed upon in both the House and senate before going to Gov. Kim Reynolds for final approval.
To track legislation at the State Capitol, visit https://www.legis.iowa.gov/
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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com