Redefining Mental health Dialogue is essential to public health.

The Term Crisis is perhaps one of the most commonly used words in American Politics today. We see it used to denote events hold negative connotations for the Majority of Americans. Maybe that's why we've struggled to address a legitimate crisis in our own communities. Minnesotans have spent the past decade bombarded by the housing crisis, the banking crisis and crisis abroad what about the mental health crisis? With 1 in 5 Americans living form with its long past time that we as a society address this issue that plagues our families our communities and our state.  Legislators on both sides of the aisle have pledged to fight for necessary reform more aggressively and this  upcoming week Minnesota’s legislature will be discussing the HHS Omnibus Bill and a part of the dialogue will be pertaining to mental health services for Children and Adolescents.  As a self-advocate I understand how difficult it is to get youth engaged in mental health services and As a member of the State subcommittee on children’s mental health, the Carver county mental health board I want to express how important this conversation is to our community. There are numerous reasons but all share numerous similarities as illustrated by the story of a Carver county resident who recently attended the Carver County Mental Health Board’s meeting in regards to her daughter who due to HIPPA I will refer to as MJ.  13 year old MJ struggled with emotional which as a result caused severe behavioral outbursts and a she got older it became more difficult for her parents to handle. MJ became aggressive at school and received multiple suspensions, she became aggressive with family members to the point where the police were called and took her juvenile detention. Her parent’s and county officials agreed that MJ needed further mental health treatment but connecting her was next to impossible. The County didn’t have the resources to accommodate the needs and waitlists ran from months to several years and ultimately the issue became too many barriers, too little access. MJ’s behavioral episodes continued to increase in severity until she finally ended u and a self-advocate in a residential treatment facility. After receiving intensive therapy, Today MJ is 15 has returned home she has the necessary supports and her relationship with her family is improving.  Although this may seem like a success story, how many parents or caregivers would have the ability to endure this type of scenario? Why did it ever have to get to that point? There should have been a quicker route to accessibility. In the United States 17.1 million children under the age of 18 States have a diagnosable psychiatric condition, less than 35 percent of them receive treatment. As a result it’s no surprise that 70 % of kids in the juvenile justice system have some form of a mental illness. It’s disappointing to know that less than half of the kids diagnosed with a mental health diagnosis ever receive treatment if their diagnosed at all. This has to change.  We as a society need to rethink how we address mental health, addressing mental health in children and adolescents are key. We need to place more emphasis on early intervention in both age and the trajectory of the illness.  Secondly we need to place a higher level of effort on “fire prevention.” Too often a crisis is deescalated and a child is sent home to the same environmental factors that caused the crisis in the first place. We also need to recognize there’s 2 parts to the mental health system, there’s the system and there’s the parts that make up the system. We need to provide mental health care utilizing evidence based multi- faceted system including both home and community services. Finally we need to promote open and productive community dialogues that include families, pediatricians and educators. These conversations will become a lot easier in the long term when there is meaningful progress being made towards reforms in the mental health system, in the short term share your stories, ask questions as personal experiences are essential to success and critical to legislation that promotes meaningful change.