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A Historical Perspective on National Child Mental Health Policy

13133 Fountain Head Road, Hagerstown, MD 21742

Mario Hernandez

Division of Training, Research, Evaluation, and Demonstration in the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of South Florida

This country has never had a formalized child mental health policy, if one uses the definition of child mental health policy as the existence of governmental commitment to ensure the availability of appropriate mental health services to children (birth-21 years) and their families. Over the past century, the field of children's mental health has borrowed policy from child welfare, juvenile justice, special education, and adult mental health, but attempts to form a comprehensive policy have been inadequate in scope and follow-through. The latest attempts at the creation of such a policy through the managed behavioral healthcare revolution and the federal government's Child and Adolescent Service System Program and Child Mental Health Services Initiative have been no more successful than past efforts in creating meaningful policy. Until a comprehensive policy is forged, children's mental health services will remain informal, incomplete, and piecemeal, making it difficult for children with mental health problems and their families to receive appropriate services.

Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Vol. 11, No. 1, 5-9 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/106342660301100102


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