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(Washington D.C.)- Representative Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk) hosted the Administrator of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Dr. Terry Cline, at a meeting with local mental health agencies in Santa Fe Springs this morning. Napolitano serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus.
“Dr. Cline’s first visit brought much needed attention to the plight of suicide attempts among Latina adolescents,” said Napolitano. “Our programs, serving all youngsters in three middle schools and one high school, have grown and helped staff, administration and students especially, in coping with and recovering from mental illness.”
The meeting at the Santa Fe Springs Neighborhood Center included a Q&A session with members of the 38th District Health Consortium followed by the introduction of students, parents, teachers and administrators who have benefited from local school-based mental health programs. These programs originated from Rep. Napolitano’s Latina Adolescent Suicide Prevention Act in 1999.
“Our school-based mental health effort has been very effective and warmly welcomed by the community. We are now working to see this emulated and expanded on a national level through the Mental Health in Schools Act of 2007, introduced by Senators Kennedy, Enzi, Domenici, and Dodd. My staff and I are collecting extensive input from both local providers and national experts as we prepare a version of this bill for the House of Representatives,” Napolitano explained.
The Mental Health in Schools Act broadens the scope of the Safe Schools-Healthy Students program and would authorize the funding of 200 grants to help educational agencies identify early signs of emotional and behavioral problems. The bill is a good first step in helping our nation’s public schools to provide better access to mental health services for our children.
Friday’s meeting necessitated that Rep. Napolitano travel back to California late last night, resulting in an unfortunate absence during House votes on the FY08 Department of State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act and the FY 2008 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act. Had she been present she would have voted in favor of final passage for both bills.
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