tion to the health center, hospital, and other agencies, for medically related needs. It is open 5 days and 3 evenings per week and has physicians "on call" during ...
Children's Mental Health Services in an Inner Neighborhood
City
1. A 3-Year Epidemiological Study ALVIN H. NOVACK, MD EVELYN BROMET, PhD T. KERBY NEILL, PhD ROBERT H. ABRAMOVITZ, MD SUSAN STORCH, BA
Children and youths under 20 years of age were seen by the mental health unit of a neighborhood health center during a 3-year period. Six demographic variables (age, sex, ethnicity, family income, sex of household head, and family size) were studied.
Introduction It has been demonstrated that socioeconomic status with underrepresentation of the lower middle class and poor is an important determinant affecting the utilization At the time of this study, Dr. Novack was Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Public Health, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510. He is presently Director of Pediatric Ambulatory Services, Cuyahoga County Hospital, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44109. Dr. Bromet was formerly a social epidemiologist with the Hill Health Center, New Haven. She is presently a Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California. Dr. Neill was formerly Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and Connecticut Mental Center. He is presently Coordinator of Children's Services for the Blue Grass East Comprehensive Care Center, Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Abramovitz is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Yale University Child Study Center and Hill Health Center. Ms. Storch is a third year medical student at Yale University School of Medicine. This study was supported in part by the Maternal and Child
of outpatient mental health services.' The failure of mental health services to meet the needs of children in the lower socioeconomic and minority groups was a major concern of the Joint Commission on Mental Health of Children.2 This study is an attempt to examine the utilization of children's mental health services provided by a neighborhood health service located in a low income community. The children provided with mental health services represent a cohort not seen by traditional mental health services such as child guidance clinics. This study addresses the following questions: * What characteristics describe the children receiving mental health care in an inner city neighborhood health service? * How does the group of children referred for mental health services differ from the group receiving general services and differ from the total population of children in the neighborhood? Health Services, HSMHA, DHEW Grant 01-H-000080-01-0, National Institute of Mental Health, HSMHA, DHEW Grant MH-17136-02, and the Foundation for Child Development, formerly the Association for the Aid of Crippled Children. CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 133
TABLE 1-Comparative Age Distribution of Children and Youth in the Mental Health, General Services, and Neighborhood Population Groups Mental Health
General Services
Group (GSG)
(yrs)
Group (MHG) N %
