Mental health disorders in childhood and adolescence are extremely common. Studies estimate between 13 and 20 percent of American children experience a mental disorder in a given year. National survey data indicates that one in five children and teens will suffer a mental disorder that severely impairs daily life. Common mental illnesses include anxiety disorder, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Yet research also indicates that many children in need of mental health services don’t get treatment, or suffer for years before being diagnosed. In California, the state’s key program for providing mental health treatment to low-income children and youth under age 21 serves just a fraction of those estimated to need help, statistics show. And while the pool of children potentially eligible for these services has expanded under the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of kids actually receiving help has declined since 2010, a California Health Report analysis has found.
“Kids aren’t getting what they need,” said Alex Briscoe, former director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency and now a consultant on health policy issues for a number of California foundations. “There are children in major counties in California with millions of residents where low-income children are not getting a service that is entitled under federal law, and a service that we now know is perhaps the most essential to their healthy growth and development.”
California provides the largest portion of its mental health care services for children and youth through a state and federally funded program called Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS). The program serves children enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s low-income health insurance plan, including foster youth and children involved in the juvenile justice system. More than half of California’s children are covered by Medi-Cal.
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