A Michigan lawmaker wants to make it easier for kids with mental-health issues to get the help they need, the Detroit Free Press reports.
State Sen.
Mark Schauer has introduced Senate Bill 0227, which would allow children with serious mental-health issues to request a waiver from the state so they could be treated at a state-funded facility instead of being turned away by hospitals based on their reputations.
The waiver would allow children to receive up to 30 days of treatment at a state hospital or residential facility, up from the current 12 days.
The bill's supporters say it would make it easier for children to get the help they need, while opponents say it would cause more children to be turned away and put them back in danger.
"This is an issue in every county of Michigan," Robert Sheehan, CEO of the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan, tells the Free Press.
"It doesn't mean the needs are rising, it means parents are saying, 'I don't want my son arrested.' Or, 'I don't want my child expelled.' At the same time that demand has risen, we haven't developed ways to incentivize private hospitals to take these kinds of kids or built up state beds."
Michigan is one
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