|
Illinois Forces Mental Evaluation on Children 12/21/2004 Illinois implements Children’s Mental Health Act of 2003 Families are furious in Illinois after discovering that the state will screen all children from birth to age 18 for mental health. The passage of the 2003 Children’s Mental Health Act in Illinois created the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP).
The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFCMH), designed by President George W. Bush, sparked the Illinois version. It passed nearly unanimously in the state legislature in 2003 with the purpose of ensuring “appropriate and culturally relevant assessment of young children’s social and emotional development with the use of standardized tools.”
Along with routine mental assessments in all mandated school exams, children’s scores will be stored on an electric scorecard to track information on each child and their social-emotional development. Any child who is not found in good mental standing may be prescribed psychotropic drugs.
Pregnant women will also be subject to mental evaluations while pregnant and up to a year after the baby’s birth.
Opponents of the ICMHP stretch across party lines and voice similar concerns. The opponents’ largest concern is the role that government and schools play in mental health evaluations and the lack of parental involvement or consent. For example, in Illinois, new, subjective, social and emotional standards are being added to the state academic learning standards upon which all government school children are tested. Schools are also required to adopt local policies on integrating mental health into classrooms.
Paul Schneider of Champaign, Illinois, spoke out in a public forum. “This program will not be voluntary,” he said. “No one will be exempt. If a family doesn’t want to accept the schools’ evaluation of their child’s mental health, what recourse will they have?”
The State Director for Concerned Women for America (CWA) of Illinois agreed. “(This is) one of the largest recent attempts by the state to subvert, devalue and undermine parental authority in Illinois. We recognize that many hours have been spent by many well-meaning people to draft this 26-page plan. No disrespect is meant, but our concerns must be presented,” Karen Hayes said.
Even state Rep. Patti Bellock (R), a co-sponsor of the original legislation voiced concerns about ICMHP to IllinoisLeader.com after reviewing the document. “I do not agree that all children birth to age five receive periodic developmental screens,” Bellock said. I also do not agree with a data reporting state system to track who is screened. This is a violation of privacy.”
State Sen. Chris Lauzen (R), who voted for the final version of the bill, agreed, saying, “If this negative interpretation of the Act is accurate, it is personally discouraging to me that this bill could have gone through the hearing process with everybody voting it forward, and none of the true implications of what this bill was all about were understood by many of us voting on it. I believe that the last people who should be defining what is normal and abnormal are Springfield politicians, including myself!”
Another prevalent concern with ICMHP is the assurance of an increase in psychiatric medications among children. “The pharmaceutical industry is gaining back-door access to all of our children by compromising key decision makers,” Allen Jones, former investigator in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Inspector General, told IllinoisLeader.com.
The Illinois Leader.com also reported that Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to Congress warning them of the dangers of children being labeled and forced into taking psychotropic medication. He reminded them that often, “psychotropic drugs are increasingly prescribed for children who have shown nothing more than children’s typical rambunctious behavior.”
The side effects of psychotropic drugs on children are, at times, equated to child abuse.
Reported side effects of psychotropic drugs on children are often extreme, including suicide, violence, psychosis, cardiac toxicity and growth suppression.
“Concerned Women for America is alarmed at the recent passage of ICMHP in Illinois and is dedicated to preventing other states from adopting similar laws,” said Michael Bowman, director of state legislative relations.
To help fight mandatory mental evaluations, contact your state legislator and urge them to reject bills with mental screening language. You can find your state and national representatives by clicking here. |
|
Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 |
Feedback / Questions? || Problem with this page? || Archives
