MHDD Services for Children and Youth

Goals of MHDD Children and Youth Services

• Eliminate fragmentation of services for children and youth.
• Educate the public about children and youth’s mental health needs.
• Identify and promote best mental health practices for children and youth, based on empirical data.
• Promote equal access to mental health and other needed services for children and youth across the state.
• Participate in the development of innovative, empirically driven, evidence-based practices specific to children and youth’s mental health.
• Eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness by educating the public that children and youth are vulnerable and that the goal for those with a mental disorder is resiliency.
• Eliminate racial, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic disparities in access to treatment of children and youth with mental disorders.
• Involve families, youth and other stakeholders in the development of this comprehensive mental health agenda.
• Promote the parity of mental health services with physical health services through policy initiatives.