To the editor:
As a police chief, it is always disconcerting to witness adolescents getting in trouble with the police due to a medical condition that wasn’t diagnosed or left untreated because of the financial hardship treatment placed on families.
The percentage of young offenders diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse disorders is rising, and research has shown a possible correlation between juvenile mental health disorders, offending behavior and recidivism.
Research suggests that up to 70 percent of the estimated daily average of adjudicated youths cycling through local and state adult and juvenile justice placements or facilities have a mental health disorder (e.g., conduct disorder, anxiety and depression) with a risk of suicide four times higher than the general juvenile population. More than half have histories of exposure to violence, neglect, abuse and trauma. It is estimated that up to 75 percent of young offenders have a substance abuse disorder, and as many as 20 percent of this group also suffer from a mental health disorder serious enough to impair their daily functioning. Mental illness is a disease. Like any other illness, it can progress and worsen if left untreated.
Senator Olympia Snowe understands this and that is why she fought so hard as a member of the Senate Finance Committee to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to include more funding and to also cover mental health services. We are fortunate in Maine that Senator Susan Collins, and Representatives Michael Michaud and Chellie Pingree also supported the expansion of this important program. SCHIP provides health insurance to children from low-income working families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to pay for private health insurance. In Maine, 14,850 children are enrolled in the program. With this new expansion, nationally four million additional low income at-risk kids will be eligible for physical and mental health coverage.
Law enforcement thanks Senators Snowe and Collins, Congressman Michaud and Congresswoman Pingree for their understanding of this issue and standing up for those who often cannot fight for themselves.
Butch Asselin
Houlton Chief of Police
Member of Fight Crime:
Invest in Kids
