Addressing The Gaps In Mental Health Infrastructure
In a recent JAMA article, 2008 National Survey of Mental Health Treatment Facilities data of psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers and freestanding outpatient clinics or partial-care and multiservice mental health groups found that only 63 percent of U.S. counties have at least one mental health facility that provides outpatient treatment for youth. Less than half of U.S. counties have a mental health facility with special programs for youth with severe emotional disturbance. The gaps in infrastructure are even larger in rural communities, where less than half even have one mental health facility that provides outpatient care and only one-third has outpatient facilities with specific programs for youth with severe illness. read more