Mental Health News

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In Hastings, Nebraska a small program at Hastings Regional Center, focused on mental health care for adolescents is in trouble.  It is so little used that the $3 million dollar program could be shut down. 

This mental health care program is currently only treating one adolescent, but it has a multi-million dollar budget.  However, some of the funds in the program are being used in another program at the local community focused center where both programs have a home.

The program is focused on helping adolescences with major mental health problems who haven’t been successfully treated in other programs.  It is also geared towards a community focused treatement. 

The other program receiving some of the unused funds from this mental health care program’s multi-million dollar budget is full.  It has 40 adolescent participants who are being helped with substance abuse problems.  Children’s mental health care programs such as these are important in trying to help those with mental health problems and substance abuse issues while they are still young.  They may even have a better chance at full recovery as youths. 

The Director of Behavioral Health for the Department of Health and Human Services involved with the program stated that they have tried to remain good stewards of the money provided for the program.  When they noticed the number of participants in the mental health care program dwindling they reduced the capacity size from 16 to 8 adolescents.  They also worked to cut costs to preserve the $3 million budget. 

A state legislative task force issued a report after reviewing the mental health care program’s situation that recommended the program be shut down.  There are currently no plans to shut down the other full substance abuse treatment program at the Hastings Regional Center.

In a recent 2005 survey of mental health recovery centers and drug treatment facilities more special programs are being tailored to specific patient groups. The most common programs being offered by mental health clinics are geared towards those with both an addiction and a co-occuring psychiatric disorder, with at least 38 percent of the facilities in the United States offering this type of program.

This is great news for the mental health industry and those suffering chronically with addiction. The road to recovery is long and tedious, but with the right programs, support from counselors and medical personnel and their own strength of will addictions can be managed and psychological conditions treated.

Other types of programs are also being offered for adult women, adolescents, seniors, post-partum moms and those with HIV/AIDS. About 83 percent of all clinics offer at least one special program with even the smallest mental health clinics offering at least the special program geared towards those with co-occuring psychological diseases and an addiction.

There are an estimated 13,371 mental health recovery facilities in the United States at this time and only one third of them responded to the survey so there may be an even greater number of facilities with special programs geared towards specific groups suffering from addictions available to the public. Anyone who has need of help in recovery from an addiction can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) hotline at 1-800-662-HELP for aid in finding a mental health recovery facility near them.