Employers Guide to Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Recommendations for the Workplace, Health Plans and Employee Assistance Program

摘要

In 2005, the National Business Group on Health released An Employers Guide to Behavioral Health Services. The Guide provided employers the information necessary to standardize the delivery of behavioral health services in the general medical and behavioral health settings. The Business Group is now expanding upon this Guide with information specific to child and adolescent behavioral health. Youth with behavioral health problems receive treatment from many different sectors, including child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health, general medical and education; unfortunately, each sector is fragmented from the others, overburdened, and lacking clear responsibility or accountability for providing services. As a result, few children receive the treatment needed. Like other chronic health issues, the effects of child and adolescent mental health disorders can be far reaching. For the individual child, the disorder and its associated stigma can bring about lifelong challenges. Caring for a child with a mental health disorder can also have a significant impact on the family and the workplace. Parent caregivers are more likely to report increased work absences, reduced productivity and job termination. In 2008, the National Business Group on Health convened the Advisory Council on Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health to develop recommendations for the comprehensive delivery of employer-sponsored child and adolescent mental health benefits. The Advisory Council identified common barriers to care that should be addressed as well as employer-based strategies to help reduce caregiver burden.