On Wednesday March 23rd, 2022, Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) led the Senate HELP Committee’s hearing: “Strengthening Federal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs: Opportunities, Challenges, and Emerging Issues.” The Committee members and witnesses discussed issues necessitating bipartisan legislation addressing the increasing severity of the mental health and substance use disorders prevailing across the country.
February 2022 The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) recently released “Gender-Affirming Care is Trauma-Informed Care,” a new fact sheet that defines gender-affirming care, describes approaches for supporting trans, gender-diverse, and intersex (TGI) youth, and includes additional tools for providers. From the release: “Transgender, gender diverse, and intersex (TGI) youth can thrive when they are
On Tuesday March 2nd, Georgetown University held a Lunch and Learn surrounding COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Implication for Medicaid Coverage for MCH Populations. Panelists: Joan Alker, Executive Director and Co-Founder of University of Georgetown, University Center for Children and Families and Research Professor Tricia Brooks, Research Professor for the Georgetown University Center for Children and
On Tuesday, March 15th, 2022, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) rolled out a new website of resources for the upcoming launch of the 988 hotline in July. This new website includes a partner toolkit to help SAMHSA’s 988 implementation partners (crisis call centers, state mental health programs, substance use treatment providers,
Recent data from the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation has given us new insights into the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health. When compared to data from 2019, the proportion of pediatric emergency department visits doubled among adolescent females with eating disorders and tripled for adolescent females with
On Monday, March 8, 2022, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), along with U.S. Representative Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asking for information to determine what additional resources states and territories need to ensure children in foster care
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of Black Americans who lack medical insurance has fallen significantly with the percentage of Black Americans who were uninsured decreasing by 8 percentage points from 2011 to 2019. Unfortunately, when compared to White populations, percentages of Black Americans uninsured are still comparatively high. Further, this
The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health estimates in a new modeling study that more than 5.2 million children globally have lost their parents or caregivers to COVID-19 through October 2021, equating to 1 child every 6 seconds. The study found more fathers than mothers died, and adolescents were more likely to be orphaned than younger
A new publication from the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends primary preventive services that reduce the perpetration of intimate partner violence and sexual violence among youth. Based on a systematic review of 28 studies, the CPSTF found evidence that prevention strategies that utilized one or more of three strategies were successful in reducing
According to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of maternal deaths rose during the first year of the pandemic. Data from the National Vital Statistics System show that in 2020, 861 women were identified as having died of maternal causes in the United States, compared with 754
