The shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers has led to a sharp focus on many issues, including concerns about access to mental health care for children. According to one school district in New Hampshire, connecting students with care can take years or longer. This issue is not new or specific to New Hampshire, and experts say that there has been an improvement, but that more needs to be done. In the Merimak Valley, some families say they have been waiting a year or more for their first meeting. “That early intervention, that opportunity to give our families what they need, is frustrating that we can’t, and those service providers are frustrated,” said Mary Paradise, director of special education at the Merrimak School District. We are really working on triage-based care triage, so unfortunately a young person in crisis may get an appointment sooner than someone who is still struggling with some mental health needs related to depression and anxiety, but their symptoms may not be as severe as others, “said Jody Lubarski, of the Seacoast Center for Mental Health’s Youth and Family Services. Government officials said they were working to bridge the gap, but it would take time. now available than we had before the pandemic, “said Rebecca Ross, director of the Bureau of Child Health.” We’ve already been in the process of creating a lot of these things. What we have seen is a significant increase in demand. “She pointed to a rapid response program that began in January and a regional children’s resource center coming soon.” There are many different ways to achieve this, but we are expanding capacity at all levels “Providers say service providers are statistically much more likely to be victims of crime than to commit it. They said shootings like the one in Texas have no easy answer and are a combination of social issues.
A shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers has led to sharp focuses on many issues, including concerns about access to children’s health care.
According to one school district in New Hampshire, connecting students with attention can take a year or longer. This issue is not new or specific to New Hampshire, and experts say that there has been an improvement, but that more needs to be done.
In the Merimak Valley, some families say they have been waiting a year or more for their first meeting.
“That early intervention, that opportunity to give our families what they need, is frustrating that we can’t, and those service providers are frustrated,” said Mary Paradise, director of special education at the Merimac Valley School District.
Personnel challenges affect mental health centers in different ways across the country.
We are really working on triage care based on need, so unfortunately a young person in crisis may get an appointment sooner than someone who is still struggling with some mental health needs related to depression and anxiety, but their symptoms may not be severe. as well as others, “said Jodi Lubarski, of the Seacoast Center for Mental Health’s Youth and Family Service.
State officials have said they are working to bridge the gap, but it will take time.
“We now have more services available than we had before the pandemic,” said Rebecca Ross, director of the Children’s Health Bureau. “We have already been in the process of creating a lot of these things. What we have seen is a significant increase in demand. “
She pointed to the rapid response program that began in January and the upcoming regional resource center for children.
“There are many different ways to get there, but we are expanding capacity at all levels of the system,” Ross said.
Service providers say that individuals with mental illness are statistically much more likely to be victims of crime than to commit it. They said that shootings like the one in Texas do not have an easy answer and that they are a combination of social issues.