‘I am the problem’: Mental health veteran offers a new strategy

After 40 years dedicated to developing, implementing and promoting comprehensive integrated mental health services for children suffering from emotional, behavioral, social and academic problems, I’m sad to say, “I am the problem.”

It’s hard to hear stories from parents who have struggled at the hands of “the system” — be it educational, mental health/behavioral health, child welfare or juvenile justice — knowing that the outcomes they decry are nearly inevitable.

Their all-too-common stories of children struggling in school, experiencing crisis, landing in juvenile hall, committing crimes, ending up in jail, and not receiving the social, emotional or behavioral supports they need along the road, paint a picture of fragmentation and misplaced priorities; where individual agencies focus on narrowly defined responsibilities within written and unwritten rules that create an impenatrable maze for families who need help the most. Ultimately, it ends up being the parents’ responsibility to try to make the system work for their child, whether they’re prepared or not. Given the complexity, most people could never be prepared. This cycle of failure must be broken. So why am I the problem? Because we allow these injustices to continue. We’ve been swimming against the current for so long we have come to accept that our systems ultimately will fail. Yet, we rarely stop and ask why. We enable a disjointed set of systems, which erodes the will, skill and wisdom we need to change things, instead of fixing it.

So why now, late in my career, do I so publicly address these issues? Because I remain optimistic that I/we don’t have to continue to be the problem.

First, we must begin to think about the family and community as the true system of support for children, and prioritize school-based and community programs that support them.

Second, we must create new models of state and local accountability and quality assurance across systems that measure success through improved academic, social, emotional, behavioral and juvenile justice outcomes for children.

Third, we must align our processes around these values so that federal, state and local law and regulation institutionalize solutions rather than further complicate problems.

Some answers are beginning to arise. County systems are starting to coordinate across departments and settings. School and community-based health centers across agencies are emerging.

Each of these strategies has a common foundation: a commitment to being held accountable for improved outcomes; and collaboration across systems.

I believe it is possible to set a new course. However, we all have a role to play. We must realize the children of California are all “our children” and support a community of champions and heroes who will accept nothing less than success.

So why am I the problem? Because we allow these injustices to continue.