The California Care 4 Kids Coalition

Theme:
Be a Friend of MIND ….. Start Early™

Mission:
The California Care 4 Kids Coalition is a Statewide, grassroots advocacy group public awareness for the promotion of  early detection and intervention for the for the mental well-being of children and youth.

Achieving the Vision: Goals of the Coalition

• Raise Awareness, Knowledge and Understanding of children’s mental health to reduce stigma and discrimination.
• Ensure that families have access to a full spectrum of needed services by partnership with the Medical, Juvenile Justice and Education Community.
• Promote the socio-economic benefits of early detection and intervention

The Facts:
California’s Unmet Need

• 100,000 children in California have a diagnosable mental disorder…..and 600,000 (60%) will not be treated.

Mental Illness in Elementary School-Age Children
A retrospective analysis was conducted in 1992 (updated in 1999) of hospitalization discharge data to determine the incidence of mental illness hospitalizations in elementary school-age children 6-12 years old.

• Mental Illness accounts for 81% of hospitalizations and 28% of hospitalizations days for 6-12 year old
• Hospitalization charges for children with mental illness totaled $85,000,000 for 6-12 olds.
• Boys had a higher risk of mental illness hospitalizations than girls
• Latino children had a lower risk of mental illness hospitalizations reflecting the lack of treatment.
• Children with mental illness hospitalized one time:

68.1 % White
71.5 % White
12.7 % African American
13 %    Latino
2.4 %   Asian
.04 %   Other

Inpatient hospitalization for the treatment of childhood mental illnesses is generally limited to children who are unsafe or acutely disturbed……..
A FAIL FIRST SYSTEM APPROACH