Assessing Child Mental Health Services in the Oregon Health Plan: A Report on Three Focus Groups, Fall 2002.

In 2002, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law investigated the impact of expanding child mental health services in Medicaid on the actual availability of services to children. To assess family satisfaction, focus groups were held in two states: Oregon and New York. Both states have a comprehensive Medicaid mental health benefit for children with serious disorders. Oregon employs a managed care system, while New York uses a fee-for-service approach to deliver these services. This report summarizes findings from the three Oregon focus groups. Parents generally found services covered under the Oregon Health Plan to be helpful to their children--when they were able to obtain them. Generally, children of all ages have access to some level of basic outpatient treatment, particularly medication and limited psychotherapy. However, parents reported significant problems accessing more intensive community rehabilitation needed by children with serious emotional disturbances. While the state places an emphasis on early intervention for very young children, most children on the Oregon Health Plan do not benefit from early recognition of their disorder. Despite the state Medicaid plan's comprehensive child mental health services benefit, children are too often unable to access many of these services when they need them. The findings from these focus groups have important ramifications for child mental health policy in Oregon. Parents believe that substantial improvements are needed in the state system for providing services to children with mental disorders. Two appendixes contain the focus group methodology and data tables. (GCP)