COVID-19 is blamed for the sky-high number of children held under the Baker Act
Leaders of a pediatric mental health consortium in Lee County are crossing their fingers that a $ 5 million grant is coming to expand services to an escalating number of local children in crisis since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That “Childhood MathThe “r” initiative was to learn in June whether the grant would be awarded by the federal government through the U.S. rescue plan, said Dr. Paul Simeone, Vice President and Medical Director of Behavioral Health at Lee Healththe public hospital system in Lee.
The funding will be for four years to create an integrated system of mental health services for children, including crisis assistance under the state The Baking Act law, where the case volume has exploded since the pandemic.
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The Baker Act allows someone to be involuntarily detained for mental health evaluation for fear that the individual may harm themselves or others.
Simeone and others with the Kids’ Minds Matter initiative, founded in 2016 and operating through Lee Health Foundationheld a Facebook-based town hall meeting on May 16 to address how pediatric mental health services cannot keep up with the increase in cases brought by the pandemic.
Kids’ Minds Matter is a collective effort by organizations to address and provide mental health services to children and to help families learn where they can get help. Most of the benefits are paid through private philanthropy because they are not reimbursed through insurance.
Demand for help has risen dramatically since the pandemic, program officials say.
There was a 221% increase in the number of children coming to the emergency room under the Baker Act from 2019 to 2021, Alyssa Bostwick, CEO of Nursing and Operations at Golisano Children’s Hospital, said during the event held at the children’s hospital. Golisano is run by Lee Health.
The expectation this year is that 1,254 children will come to the emergency room under the Baker Act for evaluation, which would be a 36% increase over last year, Bostwick said.
There were 1,100 outpatient visits in 2017 for mental health issues, and this year it is expected to hit more than 18,000 visits, she said.
“We have a crisis right here in our community,” said Dr. Larry Antonucci, President and CEO of Lee Health. “The mental health epidemic is real and it’s growing.”
How have the services been expanded?
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When Kids’ Minds Matter was launched, there were six behavioral medicine providers at Golisano and its outpatient sites, and the number has increased to 37 providers, said Dr. Emad Salman, CEO of the Children’s Hospital.
There is also a full-time social worker at Golisano’s emergency room to address potential Baker Act cases, he said.
This is a 500% increase in the number of providers, but more are needed due to demand. Three pediatric patients a day are being held for evaluation under the Baker Act, he said.
“We hardly scratch the surface, even though we have increased services by 500%,” he said. “We only see the tip of the iceberg.”
Several months ago, a 5-year-old child was brought into the emergency room who was thinking of injuring himself, Bostwick said. The child opened up to one of the doctors to overhear his parents talk about their financial struggles associated with the pandemic, she said. He “internalized” what he heard and how he could help, she said.
“He landed on, if I was not here, they might not have such a burden, and that was what brought him into our emergency department under the Baker Act,” she said.
Recognizes characters early
Significant efforts have been made in free community training so that people can learn about the signs that a child may be facing a behavioral health problem at school or elsewhere before reaching a crisis point, said Richard Keelan, program manager for child advocates at Golisano.
Hundreds of Lee Health workers, community leaders at childcare agencies and caregivers have been trained, he said. In addition, peer support groups have been launched to help parents and young people, he said.
A key indicator that something may be going on is a change in a child’s functionality, such as a drop in grades, Keelan said.
In a pilot program launched a few years ago, mental health navigators have been placed in schools in Lee and Collier counties to help children and families realize that help is available, he said.
There are seven navigators today and an eighth is being hired, he said. Ideally, there would be a navigator at each school, but they are funded through philanthropy through Kids’ Minds Matter, he said.
That Collier Community Foundation has funded a position and praised the program, Keelan said.
The Collier Foundation and a private donor approved funding in April to place a new mental health navigator in Collier for two years, according to Cindi Withorn, spokeswoman for the foundation.
Funding needs to be expanded
The application for $ 5 million to the federal government was made through a partnership with Lee Health, United Way of Lee County, Florida Gulf Coast University and Cooperation, former Community Foundation of Southwest Florida, according to Simeone, medical director of behavioral health at Lee Health.
If the funding is approved, which will extend over four years, a separate non-profit organization will be established and each of the four agencies will have responsibilities under the new structure, he said.
United Way would manage referrals and FGCU would perform program measurement, while Collaboratory would work with agencies in the community for ongoing support.
“That’s exactly what the region needs,” he said. “We have letters from 42 agencies supporting what we do.”
Antonucci pointed out community support and philanthropy are essential to expanding mental health services for children through Kids’ Minds Matter.
“Many of the things we do are not supported by reimbursement,” he said. “We have children whose parents have died of COVID and they are facing real challenges. We need every mental health navigator we can put in our community.”