Law Enforcement Officials Make Plea for Children's Mental Health
None by KCPW
It's rare that law enforcement officials get involved in health and wellness issues. But when it comes to the mental health of children, Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank sees a direct correlation with crime:"In April, our nation was shocked by the events that occurred at Virginia Tech. Here locally in Salt Lake City, we've had our share of violent incidents that could have been prevented," says Burbank. "I think supporting our children's well-being is exactly what we should be doing to avoid this in the future."
Chief Burbank, along with Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder and District Attorney Lohra Miller, are asking Congress to reauthorize the S-CHIP program, which provides health insurance to low-income children who don't qualify for Medicaid.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch is proposing 50-billion federal dollars be spent over the next five years as a match to state funds. President Bush has said he's prefer a much smaller investment. Sheriff Winder says mental health treatment is imperative for many of today's youngsters who suffer abuse, witness violent crimes or come from meth-addicted homes:
"Otherwise, we will be paying for a generation or two or three," says Winder. "Statistics prove those who are abused, become abusers and so on and so on. The S-CHIP program is critical to breaking that cycle and it is a program that must be funded at its full levels."
Utah lawmakers allocated an additional four-and-a-half million dollars this year to tap federal funds that could cover 47-thousand uninsured children. CHIP covers both physical and mental health treatment. Co-pays and deductibles depend on family income.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2009 KCPW
1. Karen Crompton said:
Senator Hatch has not yet committed to funding CHIP at $50 billion in reauthorization. We hope that he will.
2. Patsy Weppler said:
You can't imagine how important mental health care is for the young. I work with NAMI(National Alliance of the Mentally Ill) and also with our local MHMR Center. My job there was visiting the parents of children mental disorders (Family Partner). Most of the parents I have seen were very sick themselves and without help from our case workers teaching these children to cope with their mental disorders and their families you would really see most of these children in jail way before they 16 yrs old. There is no family guidance for most of these children so how are they to know right from wrong. These children are angry all the time----no one likes them in school because of their disorder---the other children call them weird and other hurtful names---so anyone that accepts them they like bad or good-----the parents do not understand their disorder and do not know what to do to help these children. Please Senator Hatch committ to funding CHIP it is the right to do. These children will be adults some day and if we do not help now we will all pay a dear price for looking the other way-----------------