Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

The Well-Being of Our Nation

Oct 28, 2002

The Well-Being of Our Nation
This National Council on Disabilities report says an inadequate public mental health system is behind the country's mental health crisis. The outpatient system operates from 9 to 5, so other systems?—law enforcement, jails and prisons, emergency rooms, homeless shelters?—have taken on a larger share of people in crisis. Children and youth with severe emotional disturbances are shuffled around, often ending up in foster care, juvenile justice or institutions. Even when kids are legally entitled to services, as they are under Medicaid or IDEA, the shortage of knowledgeable attorneys makes enforcement difficult.
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/mentalhealth.html