Group seeks reform of child mental care
Says system needs repair and funds
A coalition of leading local psychiatrists and advocates called yesterday for a sweeping overhaul of the state's system for helping mentally ill children and said its members would wage a political campaign to transform its proposals into reality.
"The time is now and the time is right, and it's time to carry through and act on the recommendations in this policy paper," said Dr. David DeMaso, psychiatrist in chief at Children's Hospital Boston.
The coalition described the current state system as fractured and underfunded. It estimated that among the nearly 150,000 Massachusetts children who need mental health services each year, more than 100,000 do not get the care they need.
At a crowded news conference at the State House yesterday, the coalition issued five sets of recommendations that included requiring insurers to cover mental healthcare at a level comparable to physical healthcare and making the mental health system more integrated, so that the correct care is provided. (The full report is available at www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.)
Health Care for All, which advocates universal healthcare in Massachusetts and is a coalition member, is turning the proposals into a package of bills that can be brought to the Legislature by mid-January, DeMaso said.
Many previous reports have found similar problems in the mental health system, he said, but this time is different, because of the push for legislation.
"We've had enough with talk and good intentions," Marylou Sudders, president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said in a statement.
She is one of the coalition's leaders and cochairs a transition committee charged with helping shape Governor-elect Deval L. Patrick's human services policy.
The change of State House administration is one reason the time is ripe for improving the children's mental health system, DeMaso said.
Asked whether the Patrick administration is likely to be better on children's mental health than Governor Mitt Romney's, DeMaso said: "It has to be better. It can't be any worse."
Carey Goldberg can be reached at goldberg@globe.com. 
