[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 164 (Thursday, November 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H12891-H12892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H12891]]
                    GIVE A KID A CHANCE LEGISLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the delegation 
from Texas, let me join my colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Barton), to offer my sympathy to the families of the victims of the 
bonfire tragedy at Texas A&M University, those who lost their lives and 
those who were severely injured. My sympathy to my colleague, 
Congressman Brady whose district the university is in, and my sympathy 
to my constituents, many of whom attend Texas A&M and whose family 
members have attended Texas A&M. My prayers are with them and their 
families, and I hope that they will know that they are in our thoughts 
and that the university will proceed with a review of the 
circumstances. But I offer to them my deepest sympathy.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise on behalf of the children of America, more 
than 13.7 million that suffer from severe mental health disorders. When 
we think of the tragedies that we have discussed over the past year, 
the hateful acts of students allegedly in Cleveland, Ohio; the tragedy 
of a killing of a middle school youngster in my own community; the 
enormous tragedy of Columbine; the killings in Fort Worth, Texas and 
Jonesboro, we do know that our children need help, need aid, need 
nurturing, and need intervention.
  Mr. Speaker, more than 13.7 million children in America suffer from 
severe mental disorders. I have long been an advocate for children's 
mental health services because I believe that good mental health is 
indispensable to overall good health.
  Mr. Speaker, today I introduced Give a Kid a Chance Omnibus Mental 
Health Services Act of 1999. H.R. 3455 was offered and filed with over 
42 original cosponsors. I believe that all children need access to 
mental health services, whether these services are provided in a 
private therapy session or in a group setting, in our communities, or 
available as an intervention method in our schools. My bill will 
provide mental health services to children, adolescents and their 
families in our schools and communities. By making these services more 
readily available, more accessible, more known, we can spot mental 
health issues in children early before we have escalated or they have 
escalated these incidences into violence.
  Mr. Speaker, at least one in five children in adolescence has a 
diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral problem that can lead to 
school failure, substance abuse, violence or suicide. However, 75 to 80 
percent of these children do not receive any services in the form of 
specialty treatment or some form of mental health intervention.
  Mr. Speaker, it is not always the kind of specialized treatment that 
is needed, but just to be able to give the family and parents access to 
some form of counseling that will be readily available that would not 
be distant, that would not be overly exorbitant in cost, that would not 
be beyond their reach. The lack of access to mental health services has 
resulted in an increase of children dropping out of school, becoming 
involved in delinquent or criminal activity and becoming involved in 
the juvenile justice or protective child systems.
  In light of the Columbine tragedy and other violent events of the 
past 7 months, our children need us to pay close attention to the early 
signs of mental disorders. Clearly there are warning signs of trouble 
in young people that point to the possibility of emotional and 
behavioral disorders. These warning signs include isolation, 
depression, alienation and hostility. But if they have no access either 
through the community or school health services or their parents do not 
know where to go, these terrible warning signs can turn into actions of 
violence. Recognizing these signs is the first step to ensuring that 
the troubled youngsters get the attention they need early to address 
their mental health needs before it is too late.
  Although the problem of youth violence cannot be traced to a single 
cause or source, unrecognized or unaddressed mental health disorders in 
children can be catastrophic. The current mental health system fails to 
provide a refuge for these children before they are dumped into the 
juvenile justice system. Two-thirds of the children who are in the 
juvenile justice system need mental health intervention. I believe that 
prevention and intervention from an early age are critical to stemming 
the tide of youth violence. We must put something in place to intervene 
in a child's life.
  This bill provides for a comprehensive, community-based, culturally 
competent and developmentally appropriate prevention and early 
intervention program that provides for the identification of early 
mental health problems and promotes the mental health and enhances the 
resiliency of children from birth to adolescence and their families.

                              {time}  2100

  It incorporates families, schools and communities in an integral role 
in the programs. It coordinates behavioral health care services, Mr. 
Speaker, interventions and support in traditional and nontraditional 
settings and, finally, it provides a continuum of care for children 
from birth through adolescence along with their families.
  Let me close simply, Mr. Speaker, by saying that I hope that all of 
my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, will join in a unified voice 
in support of pushing this legislation quickly, because we are in great 
need of providing the kind of comfort and support of our children, 
intervention, support, mental health services accessible to all.
  I rise today on behalf of the children--the more than 13.7 million 
that suffer from severe mental health disorders. I have long been an 
advocate for children's mental health services because I believe that 
good mental health is indispensable to overall good health. Today I 
introduced a bill, ``Give a Kid a Chance Omnibus Mental Health Services 
Act of 1999,'' H.R. 3455 with forty-two (42) Original Co-Sponsors.
  I believe that all children need access to mental health services. 
Whether these services are provided in a private therapy session or in 
a group setting in the schools, we need to make these services 
available.
  My bill will provide mental health services to children, adolescents 
and their families in the schools and communities. By making these 
services more readily available, we can spot mental health issues in 
children early before we have escalated incidents of violence.
  At least one in five children and adolescents has a diagnosable 
mental, emotional, or behavioral problem that can lead to school 
failure, substance abuse, violence or suicide. However, 75 to 80 
percent of these children do not receive any services in the form of 
specialty treatment or some form of mental health intervention.
  The lack of access to mental health services has resulted in an 
increase of children dropping out of school, becoming involved in 
delinquent or criminal activity, and becoming involved in the juvenile 
justice or child protective systems.
  In light of the Columbine tragedy and other violent events of the 
past seven months, our children need us to pay close attention to the 
early signs of mental disorders. Clearly, there are warning signs of 
trouble in young people that point to the possibility of emotional and 
behavioral disorders. These warning signs include isolation, 
depression, alienation and hostility.
  Recognizing these signs is the first step to ensure that troubled 
youngsters get the attention they need early to address their mental 
health needs before it is too late. Although the problem of youth 
violence cannot be traced to a single cause or source, unrecognized or 
unaddressed mental health disorders in children can be catastrophic.
  The current mental health system fails to provide a refuge for these 
children before they are dumped into the juvenile justice system. I 
believe that prevention and intervention from an early age are critical 
to stemming the tide of youth violence. We must put a system in place 
that can intervene in a child's life early on, long before the first 
act of violence is ever committed.
  However, there is a greater need to address the mental health needs 
of all children, not just those who end up in the juvenile justice 
system. We need to address the mental health needs of all children 
before they become at-risk or troubled youth. Our children need to feel 
more comfortable about seeking help for their problems.
  In preparing this legislation, I worked with a coalition of mental 
health professionals--psychologists, counselors, social workers and 
others to create comprehensive mental health legislation that will 
benefit all children and their families.
  Mental health is indispensable to personal well-being, family and 
interpersonal relationships. Mental health is the basis for thinking 
and communication skills, learning, emotional growth, resilience and 
self-esteem.

[[Page H12892]]

  There were several issues that we considered--access to services, the 
issue of stigma and the cultural and ethnic barriers to treatment. This 
bill addresses each of these concerns. Access to mental health services 
is key to saving this generation from self-destructive behavior.
  In addition to access, there is the significant issue of stigma, 
particularly among the various cultural groups in this country. As we 
all know, there is already a significant stigma attached to mental 
health services for adults.
  Adults need to realize that mental health is not separate from 
physical or bodily health. Good physical health is all encompassing, 
inclusive of the mind and body. As adults, we need to feel more 
comfortable about our own issues. We cannot continue to believe in the 
stigma of mental help.
  We must also explore the cultural and ethnic barriers to making 
mental health services available to all children. In certain ethnic 
cultures, the issue of mental health is almost a non-issue. For 
example, in some cultures, a person may complain of physical discomfort 
when the real issue is of a psychological nature.
  In addition to internal cultural barriers to mental health treatment, 
there are cross-cultural barriers that must be overcome. Mental health 
professionals must be culturally savvy and have an understanding of 
various cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
  People from various cultural backgrounds are often mistrustful of 
seeking professional mental health services because of a lack of trust 
in the system, economic constraints, and limited awareness of the value 
of good mental health. The challenge to the mental health profession is 
to overcome these barriers to provide comprehensive treatment.
  This silence ultimately harms our children. For example, in the 
African-American community mental health is rarely discussed and it 
often goes untreated in both adults and children. Depression is the 
most common mental health disorder affecting 10 percent of the 
population, yet we still do not engage in a public dialogue about this 
issue.
  The progress we make now in terms of mental health access and 
treatment, erasing the stigma and overcoming the cultural barriers will 
be long reaching.
  I urge my colleagues to add their names to the list of cosponsors of 
this legislation. In the next session, I look forward to this bill 
passing.

                          ____________________