[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 56 (Thursday, April 2, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E872-E873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE CHILD HEALTHCARE CRISIS RELIEF ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 2, 2009

  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the Child 
Healthcare Crisis Relief Act. This legislation addresses the critical 
mental health needs of our children, and shortage of providers 
available to meet those needs.
  In 1999, then Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher noted the crisis 
faced by our Nation's children who suffer from mental illness. 
According to this report, one out of every five children in America 
suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder, yet only one-third of them 
receive mental healthcare treatment. Part of the reason for this 
alarming statistic is that mental health services specific to children 
are in very short supply.
  That is why today Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and I are 
introducing the Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act. This is a bill 
designed to help alleviate the scarcity of mental health services for 
our Nation's youth by providing incentives for mental healthcare 
workers to specialize in the treatment of children and adolescents.
  The Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act creates incentives to help 
recruit and retain child mental health professionals providing direct 
clinical care, and to improve, expand, or help create programs to train 
child mental health professionals by establishing:
  Loan repayment and scholarships for child mental health and school-
based service professionals to help pay back educational loans;
  Grants to graduate schools to provide for internships and field 
placements in child mental health services;
  Grants to help with pre-service and in-service training of 
paraprofessionals who work in clinical mental health settings for 
children; and
  Grants to graduate schools to help develop and expand child and 
adolescent mental health programs.
  This bill also allows for an increase in the number of Child and 
Adolescent Psychiatrists under the Medicare Graduate Medical Education 
Program and extends the board eligibility period for residents and 
fellows from four years to six years.
  The Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act is not only about providing 
incentives for health care

[[Page E873]]

workers, it is also a bill about expanding treatment options for 
children in need. Expanding treatment options expands the opportunities 
for children with mental health concerns and allows them to grow and 
become happy and productive members of our society.
  The hope and the potential for endless possibilities that we, as a 
people. attribute to children are diminished with each child who 
struggles with mental illness and who does not receive adequate 
treatment. I, therefore, ask my colleagues to lend their support for my 
Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act.

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