Division 37 - Child, Youth, and Family Service

1. What do you see as a front burner issue in children's mental health that you would like to address as president?

Suicide is the sixth leading cause of death for 5 - 14 year olds; incest; physical abuse; bullying; latchkey; diagnosing 6 - 8 year olds as bipolar; deaths of premature babies.all burning issues that are mitigated or mediated by poverty and prevention. Two thirds of all kids are not getting the mental health care they need because of the cost of treatment and/or inadequate insurance coverage.

So the question becomes where does one begin to intervene with children and adolescents? I serve on the Council of Representatives, the legislative body for APA. The Council just passed legislation to establish a new committee on Socio-economic status. We have been trying to get this action accomplished for years. Surely some of our colleagues who have expertise with adolescents should be on the Committee because of the significant impact that class has on all of the problems listed above. Our scientists need to be involved with delivering the data that provides the evidence of the correlation between poverty and mental health in children. Our practitioners need to be developing and delivering interventions to prevent and mitigate the devastation caused by poverty. Of course many of our colleagues are already doing these things so part of what APA and the President must do is help to get that word out to the public, to families, school systems, medical establishments and funding agencies. The President will be the one to ensure that we have an efficient and effective committee. We must gain greater collaboration between psychologists who are scientists, practitioners and educators so that we can speak with one voice about the needs of our children. For example, if we are to influence insurance companies' willingness to pay for prevention interventions then more of us must speak up and form the evidence regarding the dire need for preventive mental health with adolescents.

My main goal as President of APA is to foster greater collaboration between practitioners, scientists, and educators in order to focus on the major issues of our society. Preventive Mental Health is a major societal issue. You might notice on my website at http://saweb.memphis.edu/binghamforapapresident/ that I have mentioned the need for prevention work with pre K-12. So I will be calling on my colleagues to include such a focus and that will permeate through out APA during my tenure. If we work together we can help our colleagues who are struggling everyday to improve the lives of children. We can make a difference. Inclusion is Power - and there is no age limit!