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SALT LAKE CITY — 4th Annual Ready! Resilient! The Utah Early Childhood Mental Health Summit reviewed progress on policy recommendations outlined at previous summits on Tuesday.
The annual summit is a partnership between Governor Spencer Cox and First Lady Abby Cox and the Children’s Center of Utah and brings together leading experts to provide policy updates and concerns, and to engage with Utah’s children. Discuss future-oriented solutions to improve family mental health outcomes.
“I’ll give you some statistics, but I have to say, keep in mind that we’re talking about individuals. We’re talking about infants, your children and grandchildren. , toddlers and preschoolers,” Rebecca said. Mr. J. Dutson, President and CEO of Utah Children’s Center.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 10 to 20 percent of Utah children experience a mental health disorder in a given year. This means around 90,000 children are struggling with their mental health before they even start kindergarten, Dutson explained. This number suggests Utah may have a higher need for early childhood mental health services based on several risk factors, including children living in poverty and children from racial and ethnic minorities. It shows that.
Other influential statistics shared by Dutson include:
- Utah has the highest percentage of mothers with children under 3 who say they have good or poor mental health, and the highest percentage of parents with children under 3 who are struggling to cope with the demands of daily parenting. It is the state with the second highest percentage of people who say they are not coping very well.
- In Utah, 58% of children ages 3 to 17 who have a clinically diagnosed mental or behavioral health challenge do not receive treatment or counseling.
- Utah has one-third fewer providers per 100,000 people than the national average.
“Mental health needs have always existed among our children, but now is the time to focus on upstream mental health in early childhood,” Dutson said. “All of us in this room know that there is hope, because upstream we need children and families and the health care providers who work with those children to deal with and manage their big emotions. Because by giving them the tools they need, they can literally change what’s happening downstream.”
But what does the change in downstream outcomes mean?
“In the nation’s youngest state, the national cost of youth mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders is estimated at $247 billion annually in mental health and health services, lost productivity, and crime. It is vital that we take action to address these needs,” Spencer-Cox explained. “Evidence-based trauma treatment delivers a return of $3.64 for every dollar invested.”
The last summit outlined eight policy strategies to address the ongoing crisis, including:
- Develop baseline estimates of the need for early childhood mental health services.
- Collaborate and coordinate with a variety of partners to support early childhood mental health through education, resources, and support for early childhood caregivers and providers.
- Increase early childhood mental health awareness, promotion, and prevention-related activities, all of which can help reduce mental health stigma.
- Strengthen the integration of children’s physical and behavioral health by expanding access to mental health screening, assessment, and treatment to all children, including on Medicaid and in school.
- Create incentives to support the development and maintenance of a strong early childhood mental health workforce.
- Develop and deliver early childhood mental health training for all early childhood caregivers and providers. This differs from previous strategies in that it focuses on non-mental health providers.
- Estimate the long-term value of early childhood mental health care in Utah.
- Reducing disparities in early childhood mental health access and outcomes between different population groups.
A workgroup was convened to focus on three of the strategies outlined. Promote the integration of children’s physical and behavioral health by expanding access to Medicaid and mental health screening, evaluation, and treatment for all children, including in school-based settings. And increasing early childhood mental health awareness, promotion, and prevention-related activities can all help reduce mental health stigma.
“The group decided we couldn’t boil the ocean, so we chose the three that were of most interest to us,” Dutson explained.
So what kind of progress are we seeing in the three categories?
- In January, Utah was accepted into the third group of states. Zero to Three Technical Assistance Grant. The nonprofit organization includes a variety of organizations that work together across the country to develop policy and funding strategies to advance infant and early childhood mental health supports and services, including promotion, prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. Leaders from state agencies and organizations participate.
- The Utah Department of Health and the Utah Department of Human Services have been combined to streamline access to Medicaid and reduce barriers between agencies.
- Continuous coverage for 12 months will be implemented from January 1st for eligible children.
- New CHIP benefits to serve and provide medical care to undocumented children.
- There is a pending grant application for a patient-centered medical home model for complex children to receive care, as well as an ongoing process to explore locations of care in schools.
“We can’t do this alone. This is a collective impact approach,” said Jennifer Mitchell, senior director of the Children’s Center and Zero to Three Fellow. “How are your kids doing? How are your kids doing? You make a difference. And together, we’re going to help our state’s children, their families, their caregivers, and provide health care.” We will continue to improve mental health outcomes for all professions.’Talk to them. ”
