SAN DIEGO — A San Diego County supervisor wants to expand access to behavioral health care for kids.
During a news conference Monday morning, Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said she will propose the county put together a plan that would set aside state and federal money for mental health services specifically for children.
"There's a growing and intense need for behavioral health services for children and young people. As a parent, and in my conversation with other parents, there's strong consensus about the lack of easily accessible mental health and addiction treatment resources for kids," said Supervisor Lawson-Remer.
According to a study by the group Children Now, California ranks last in the country when it comes to being able to access mental healthcare services for youth.
"Too often children's behavioral health needs go either misinterpreted as discipline issues or are ignored entirely, and this allows those issues to escalate and become more significant problems down the road. In the worst cases, kids are taking their own lives and it's happening too often," said Kristina Halmai-Gilian, LMFT Director of Service Innovation, YMCA San Diego.
According to Rady Children's Hospital, it's seen a 1700 percent increase in emergency room visits in mental health crisis in children. In California, from 2016-2020 anxiety and depression in children increased 70 percent.
Experts said while funding is an issue, staffing issues are also a problem.
Supervisor Lawson-Remer will make a proposal to the board at next week's meeting. If passed, the goal is to have a framework to expand behavioral health care for kids in place within six months and a finalized version within 18 months.
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