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 REQUEST
FOR ACTION
JULIANA FORT, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., EDITOR
To
help alleviate the critical shortage of child mental
healthcare workers, the Child Healthcare Crisis
Relief Act was introduced in the 108th Congress
(H.R. 5078 from the 107th Congress). This bill
will
create incentives for young healthcare providers
to
specialize in treating our young and will strengthen
and expand graduate programs in children’s mental
health.
The children’s mental health workforce bill, the
Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act, H.R. 1359,
sponsored
by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and S. 1223, sponsored by
Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Susan Collins (RME),
is gaining support in both the House and the
Senate. The bill aims to address the national shortage
of children’s mental health professionals, including
child and adolescent psychiatrists, by encouraging
individuals to enter the field through the creation
of education incentives.
For child and adolescent psychiatrists, the bill
would set up a loan forgiveness program and would
restore Graduate Medical Education (GME) fund-
ing for child psychiatry training programs, which
would reduce a significant financial burden on
the
hospitals and medical schools that operate these
medical training programs. Other children’s mental
health professionals, such as psychologists and
school-based professionals, would be eligible for
scholarships, loan forgiveness and training grants.
H.R. 1359 has been referred to the House Energy
and Commerce and Ways and Means committees.
S. 1223 has been referred to the Senate Health,
Education,
Labor and Pensions Committee. Currently,
S. 1223 has the bipartisan support of 11 cosponsors,
including Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee Ranking Member Edward Kennedy
(D-MA), but many more supporters are needed for
the bill to be passed in 2004. The House bill,
H.R.
1359, now has 56 bipartisan cosponsors but it too
requires much more support to gain passage.
Visit www.aacap.org and follow the Advocacy
link to the Child Mental Health Workforce Bill.
You
can take immediate action by submitting your zip
code to automatically e-mail your senators.
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