IL launches compulsory mental health screening for children and
pregnant women

http://illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=17748
Monday, July 19, 2004

By The Leader-Chicago Bureau
CHICAGO -- This week, a series of public forums on a program
requiring all pregnant women and children through age 18 years to be
tested for mental health needs is being held this week in five
different locations statewide.

One group of parents learned about the state's plans to proceed with
this program and on Monday issued an alarm asking for parents and
citizens concerned about the new program to voice their opinions at
the forums.

"We're moving toward social training over academic training with
this program," Larry Trainor, a Mt. Prospect parent of four children
and a contact for Citizens Commission on Human Rights, based in Los
Angeles, said today.

"Since psychiatric involvement in education, SAT scores have gone
down for the past few decades. Evaluating mental conditions is not
based on scientific evidence, it's subjective," he said.

The $10 million plan for the setup of the Children's Mental Health
Act of 2003 is being considered at this week's public forums
starting Monday, July 18 in Champaign.

Signed into law, the bill passed the Illinois General Assembly last
spring, sponsored in the House by State Representatives Julie Hamos
(D-Evanston) and Patricia Bellock (R-Westmont). State Senator Maggie
Crotty (D-Oak Forest) and Susan Garrett (D-Highwood) shepherded the
legislation through the Senate.

The legislation passed the House with a 107 to 5 vote, and the
Senate unanimously.


"What if they find a student has a math disorder, a reading
disorder. Would that be a mental health disorder, one that would
cause the parents to put their children with a drug for a condition
they may or may not have?" Trainor asked.


The mental health program will develop a mental health system
for "all children ages 0-18 years," provide for screening to "ensure
appropriate and culturally relevant assessment of young children's
social and emotional development with the use of standardized
tools."

Also, all pregnant women will be screened for depression and
thereafter following her baby's birth, up to one year. Follow-up
treatment services will also be provided.

Trainor said that he is trying to get parents and citizens out to
voice their opinion about the new program.

Apparently, children's mental health will be assessed along with
their academic standards in the new proposed testing. The Illinois
State Board of Education has been given the responsibility to
develop the appropriate tests, according to last year's legislation.