|
 Mental
Health Program is Model For Nation
Lansing-area service helps kids others can't.
by Wendy Wendland-Bowyer, Detroit Free Press, November
14, 2003
For more articles like this
visit
http://www.bridges4kids.org.
When Aaron Cook-Garmyn
grows up he wants to be a scientist and discover cures for all
the world's diseases. While he's at it, he'd also like to invent
a snake, a really nice one that eats only vegetation.
Aaron is smart, with an IQ of 146 -- just below genius level.
But the 14-year-old struggles with obsessive-compulsive traits,
like picking at his fingers incessantly. He's been diagnosed
with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has anxiety to
the point of once refusing to go outside for the summer for fear
a bee would sting him. He can be prone to angry outbursts. He's
suffered severe depression.
But these days Aaron is doing much better. He's making friends,
controlling his anger, overcoming depression. His parents, Shawn
and Steve Cook-Garmyn of Lansing, give much of the credit to the
mental health care he receives from the Family Guidance
Home-Based Services program.
The program, run by the Clinton, Eaton, Ingham Community Mental
Health Authority in Lansing, is attracting national attention
after research out of Eastern Michigan University showed it gets
better results than any other state-funded children's mental
health program. A nationally recognized children's mental health
expert is studying the Lansing program as one of nine national
models.
Al Way, director of the program, said no one was more surprised
to learn they were among the nation's best than he and his
staff. They simply do what makes sense: let parents choose their
therapist; make themselves available 24 hours a day; hold
therapy sessions at the child's home, and look for situations
where the child succeeds and strive to duplicate them.
Unique approach
Kay Hodges is a nationally known psychology professor at Eastern
Michigan hired by the Michigan Department of Community Health to
analyze state data. Jim Wotring, director of the state's
programs for children with serious emotional disturbances, said
he brought in Hodges because he wanted to know which of the
state's publicly funded children's mental health programs were
working.
Hodges' full report came out earlier this year and showed the
Lansing program was unique.
"They have had good outcomes with very behavior-challenged, very
hard-to-work-with kids," said Wotring. "They were having success
with kids and families that nobody else was."
Soon word spread nationally.
Analyzing data to learn which programs work, and using proven
techniques for treating mentally ill kids may sound basic, but
it is relatively new ground for children's mental health
treatment, said Robert Friedman, professor and chairman of the
Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of
South Florida.
Friedman is a children's mental health expert who contributed to
the first U.S. Surgeon General's report on mental health. He won
a federal grant to study the best children's mental health
programs in the country to develop national models. He chose the
Michigan site as one of nine and visited the state in April.
"Lansing, for me, was an organization where the staff really
goes out of their way to create services and treatment plans
that meet the needs of the kids," Friedman said. "They have
great respect for family input, and good clinical skills and
support for the staff who go into the home."
Friedman said for years children with mental illnesses were
treated like mini-adults. They'd come in to the doctor's office
to discuss their issues, and maybe get placed on medications.
But this approach generally does not work with kids who may not
be able to understand why they are having trouble or on children
who are overly dependent on their families. But sending
therapists into the child's world and putting an emphasis on
helping the child in every environment -- school, community,
family -- works, he said.
The Lansing children's program staff members are county CMH
employees, unlike children's mental health programs in Oakland
or Wayne counties where the work is contracted out to
nonprofits. Way, the director of the Lansing program, said this
contributes to staff stability and accountability. The program
treats about 375 kids each year-- some for several months,
others for years. About 65 percent of their kids are on
psychotropic medications.
Many of the children have serious mental illnesses, such as
schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Some cut themselves with
knives, others are suicidal. Still others are violent, which
often lands them in juvenile court.
Therapists go to the family's home and help identify what the
child is doing well and work to duplicate those successes. They
help families set up crisis plans and provide respite care to
give the parents a break. They only rely on psychiatric
hospitals when all else fails.
Budget squeeze
Despite the program's success, the state's current budget crisis
forced a $180,000 cut in funding for the program in April. It
anticipates a $150,000 cut to its $3.5 million annual budget
this coming year.
Duplicating this program statewide would require training
Wotring said other programs want. But the training would take
millions of dollars.
But for families in Clinton, Eaton or Ingham counties, the
program remains available. And for that, Jane Arney and her
13-year-old son, Jordan, are grateful.
Before being assigned their therapist, Arney said she and her
son went to doctors who talked to Jordan in their offices,
coming up with plans that did not work. Jordan's behavior
spiraled, at times putting her in danger.
In the past, Jordan punched in walls, chased her with knives,
pushed her down stairs and smashed the family TV set. He ripped
up bedsheets and splashed paint on walls. There were times when
Arney and Jordan's step-dad had to go into their room and lock
the door to keep Jordan out.
"We would huddle in our bed and listen, afraid Jordan would
destroy the house," said Arney, who lives in Holt. "But this
doesn't happen any more." Arney said a therapist now comes to
her house, listens, and helps them recognize patterns in
conversation or behaviors that might lead to bigger problems.
Her therapist helped her give Jordan more control over little
things in life, like taking his medications by himself.
"I feel like she is almost part of our family," she said.
"Things are so different."
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