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>http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20030421_559.html >April 21 >— By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent > >WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of U.S. parents are >being forced to give up their mentally ill children to >foster care or even the juvenile justice system >because they cannot otherwise pay for treatment, a >report said on Monday. > >The report by the General Accounting Office has >probably found only the tip of the iceberg, mental >health groups said, as only a few states cooperated >with the investigation. > >But they said the implications are clear. "Families >across America are being ripped apart because they >can't find the help their children with mental and >emotional disorders need," Laurel Stine of the >nonprofit Bazelton Center for Mental Health Law said >in a statement. > >The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, was asked >to write the report by U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a >Maine Republican, and Democratic House of >Representatives members Pete Stark of California and >Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island after a series of >media reports on the issue. > >Child welfare directors in 19 states, and juvenile >justice officials in 19 counties answered survey >questions for the report. They said more than 12,700 >children were placed into some kind of care so they >could get needed treatment. > >"Nationwide, this number is likely higher because many >state child welfare directors did not provide data," >the GAO report said. > >"Although no agency tracks these children or maintains >data on their characteristics, officials said most are >male, adolescent, often have multiple problems and >many exhibit behaviors that threaten the safety of >themselves and others." > >But the children had not committed crimes, nor had >they been abused or neglected, said Elizabeth Adams, a >spokeswoman for the National Alliance for the Mentally >Ill. > >"When children have mental health problems, they are >often demanding on the family and family structure," >Adams said in a telephone interview. "Sometimes they >have outbursts and rage and behavior that is >destructive to the child and others." > >This requires care -- expensive care that can include >intensive counseling for the patient and the family, >respite care to give parents a break, and drug >treatment. > >But many insurance plans will only pay for such >treatment for a limited time, said Ralph Ibson of the >National Mental Health Association. > >And states cannot pay unless the child is in their >physical custody. > >"In extreme cases, as this report documents, they >literally give up custody to meet the requirements as >a last-chance opportunity for their children, give up >custody to a system that will place the kids in mental >health services. That's how desperate they are," Ibson >said. > >"You have to ask yourself why they can supply money >for child mental health services in a foster care home >and you won't give the same money to a parent?" asked >Adams.
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