Families Struggle with Mental Health Problems

The Tulsa Mental Health Association says there's a crisis in the mental health of our children and teens. Many families, along with the Tulsa Boys' Home, are struggling to get help for their mentally

Monday, January 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The Tulsa Mental Health Association says there's a crisis in the mental health of our children and teens. Many families, along with the Tulsa Boys' Home, are struggling to get help for their mentally ill children due to lack of money and resources. The News on Six talked with one mother who feels she is at a dead end.

Leslie Smith works at a coffee shop by day and attends college classes by night. She says her hectic schedule is the least of her worries. Smith has an 11-year-old daughter diagnosed with "reactive attachment disorder", the inability to form normal relationships with others. She tried for years to get mental help for her daughter, but she says her daughter never received the appropriate care.

After years of trying to get the right kind of help, Smith finally left her daughter in Department of Human Services custody. "I wonder if I made the right decision,â€ she said. â€œI know we were left without options. I feel we were forced to have to go this direction." Smith says a state institution is the only way for her daughter to receive adequate care, so she had no choice. "It's a horrible feeling because as a mother my concerns are for Lindsay,â€ she explained. â€œMore than anything, I want Lindsay back home."

Mental health workers say Smith's situation is all too common. That's why they declared a state of crisis in child and adolescent mental health in Oklahoma. "Lack of funds is a serious part of the problem, but it's not the only problem,â€ said The Mental Health Associationâ€™s Tulsa spokesperson Julie Summers. â€œThe fact there's not a coordination of services, the fact there are so many state agencies involved, compounds the problem. Reimbursement rates are awfully low."

Greg Conway with the Tulsa Boys' Home says he can't hire a psychiatrist because Medicaid's reimbursement rates are so low. "We are not able to find a psychiatrist who would be willing to see our kids to check their meds and prescribe medications for our boys because the Medicaid reimbursement for those services are not adequate," he explained.

Summers says as many as 9,300 Tulsans under the age of 18 struggle with a mental illness. She says if children and adolescents go untreated, things could get worse for them in the future. Mental health advocates will try to persuade state legislators to get more money from Medicaid to address mental health issues for children and teens. The Tulsa Mental Health Association has also formed a committee to coordinate state agencies in a more efficient way.