OHA report points to need for expansive youth mental health services in Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Around 25% of Oregonians between the ages of 12 and 17 experienced a “major depressive episode” over the past year, the Oregon Health Authority disclosed in a new report. The agency said this is the second-highest rate in the nation, revealing the need for more expansive children’s mental health services in the state.
OHA’s Ombuds Program, which assists Oregon Health Plan members, released its latest report on Wednesday. While the 2022 report focused on behavioral health issues among adults, the 2023 six-month report centered on child and youth community-based mental health.
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Oregon Hospital Discharge Data depicts that 1,923 OHP members under the age of 18 visited an emergency department over mental health issues between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2023. According to the Health Authority, more than 11% of youth who receive mental health care in emergency rooms seek the same care within three months.
The report also lists specific instances in which Oregon youths struggled to access the services they needed.
In one case, a 16-year-old identified as Sam who contemplated suicide could access outpatient care through their “coordinated care organization,” but the teenager’s rural community couldn’t offer the intensive services they were seeking.
OHA said the teen was rejected from all Oregon-based inpatient youth mental health facilities and survived a number of suicide attempts before finally receiving psychiatric care at an out-of-state hospital and then returning home after four months.
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“Oregonians are in dire need of systemic change that recognizes the role of trauma and mental health needs for youth and focuses on treatment in years where it is most effective,” Sam’s care coordinator said in a statement. “Legislative efforts are needed to address provider network inadequacy, leading to understaffed and overcapacity facilities logjammed with increasingly acute cases, without anywhere to go.”
Other stories include a resident who was denied of mental health services “due to the presence of a developmental disability,” an elementary school student who struggled to access services because they didn’t have a living guardian, and a non-English-speaking teenager who wasn’t properly discharged from a medical facility after being hospitalized for an eating disorder.
Based on the report findings, the Ombuds Program made multiple recommendations aimed at improving Oregon’s youth mental health services.
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This includes launching statewide networks for inpatient and outpatient mental health care, forming an independent Office of the Ombuds for Children and Youth, and increasing funding for community-based youth mental health services in general.
Program leaders will present their recommendations to the Oregon Health Policy Board on Jan. 9.
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