How Many Chicago Students Have Access To Mental Health Services

Increasing Access to Mental and Behavioral Health

Nov 08, 2019 | Written By:

Every year, we host the Alter for Good Luncheon, Salubrious Schools Entrada's (HSC) almanac event to bring focus to our work to make schools healthier places for all children and highlight new initiatives. This year we focused on lifting up the voices and experiences of parents and customs leaders and invited public officials to hear and respond to their recommendations. This year, an audience of near 200 parents, community members and leaders from our civic, business, health and instruction communities heard a console of grassroots leaders speak well-nigh their work in school health services, physical education, dark-green schoolyards, school food and accountability. We invited public officials to mind and respond to those priorities. This serial of blogs lays out those priorities and responses and highlights our policy recommendations to the recently elected Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Serious mental health issues among students are on the rise, but 60 percentage of students do non receive the handling they need.

"Why is that," asked Dr. Doriane Miller, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Academy of Chicago and Manager of the Center for Customs Wellness and Vitality at UChicagoMedicine, at this year'southward Change for Good Luncheon.

"One might speculate that there might be stigmas fastened to the receipt of mental health services," she said. "Really, there is a lack of access to services." Most 80 per centum of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students are enrolled in Medicaid, and information technology is extremely difficult to detect providers who will accept Medicaid for mental and behavioral health services, Dr. Miller said. "Enhancement of these services in the mental and behavioral wellness area would fill an essential gap in services in a way that provides students with timely, integrated care," she said.

Increasing admission to school health services is a critical strategy to attain vulnerable children and support improved educatee health and academic achievement. Today, one in four children has a health result that affects their ability to succeed in the classroom. This is double the number simply thirty years ago. Because many of the wellness bug that affect learning disproportionately touch on low-income students of color, whatsoever serious effort to address instruction equity must also address wellness equity.

A few years ago, we learned that Medicaid did non allow schools to get reimbursed for most of the services they delivered to Medicaid enrolled students. Equally a issue, districts' already scarce education dollars were existence stretched to help provide wellness services. "And, they weren't coming shut to meeting the needs of all their students," said Rochelle Davis, HSC President + CEO. "Nosotros took on this consequence at the national level and successfully advocated for this policy to change—at present schools are recognized Medicaid providers and able to bill for all eligible services provided to Medicaid enrolled students."

However, in order for schools to admission these federal healthcare dollars, states must formally seek approval from Medicaid, and nosotros are helping states do merely that. In the half dozen states that have already successfully petitioned for this change, schools can now pay for additional school nurses, counselors and social workers. And meliorate yet, more students have access to crucial medical services.

We hope that past next yr we will be able to count Illinois every bit one of us that accept made this of import alter. This volition have an immense positive impact for CPS lone, which serves approximately 235,000 Medicaid enrolled students.

At the Luncheon, we too heard from Dr. Allison Arwady, the Acting Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). Dr. Arwady shared the department would soon denote new initiatives supporting mental and behavioral health. "Nosotros're also thinking nigh how to expand and better on the work that is already happening," she said. CDPH already works in partnership with CPS to provide immunizations, dental intendance and vision care.

We look forward to continuing the conversation around increasing admission to student health services—specially mental and behavioral wellness—with public officials, service providers, grassroots leaders and schoolhouse districts across Illinois to ensure that all students accept access to the healthcare they need in guild to be present and ready to succeed in school.

Source: https://healthyschoolscampaign.org/blog/increasing-access-to-mental-and-behavioral-health/

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