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Child mental health bill needs improvements

One of my favorite television commercials was a cartoon that showed a gangly man walking along with chocolate filled buckets in each hand. His foot hit a rock and as he stumbled, the pails of chocolate flew through the air and into the top window of the Keebler Elves’ tree. You heard some bangs and clangs and then an elf, dripping with chocolate, stepped out with a tray of cookies and said, “We just discovered chocolate swirled cookies.”

This reminds me of the progression of mental health treatment. Through the centuries, people with mental illnesses were treated by three groups: magicians, clergy and scientists. It wasn’t until people with mental illnesses were studied and treated by science that people started to improve with their symptoms.

In the 1800s, the mental health movement was focused on establishing sanitariums. People with mental illnesses were cared for in large institutions, away from the general population, their families and their friends. By and large, most of these institutions were built before 1950. In 1950, people living in a sanitarium in Switzerland were used to test a new antihistamine. The caregivers were amazed to see a lessening of mental health symptoms.

This was the start of “psychotherapeutic” medications which have improved greatly over the following years. What followed was the development of more community-based services and fewer institutions. Over time, improvements in both therapy techniques and the quality of psychotherapeutic medications have resulted in improved functionality by people with mental health conditions.

We also know the earlier we identify and intervene in the course of a mental illness, the better the outcomes. Because of this, I was happy the governor called for doing more to treat children’s mental health conditions. But because the bill fell short of what is needed to intervene, I voted against the bill.

I felt the bill was a paper shell. As I’ve outlined in previous columns, I believe we know what to do. Now it is a matter of doing it. The bulk of this bill created a committee to oversee services. We already have a structure in place to do this. The administration of adult mental health services is already in existence and can easily be inclusive of children’s services.

In 1991, 28 years ago, the Marshalltown Community Schools District began providing mental health services in their schools. This allowed children to see mental health professionals with minimal interference in their school day. Second, it allowed services to be provided in an environment where parents were comfortable with their children being treated. Third, when parents and the child wanted, coordination with teachers occurred with greater ease. Including this model in the legislation that was passed would have been easy. It would have taken the Marshalltown model into other school districts and ensured more children were treated in a comfortable environment where they receive quality care.

The governor’s bill is back in the Senate. Let’s hope it will come back with the necessary improvements.

I can be reached at 816 Roberts Terrace, Marshalltown, and telephone: 641-750-9278, or at mark.smith@legis.iowa.gov.

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