Public Policy

Eliminating Health Care Disparities

The National Federation firmly believes that there is a pressing need to address the disparities in behavioral health care. This is because youth of color disproportionately receive fewer mental health services than white youth, and even when they do get services, they are more likely to stop treatment early and show less clinical improvement than white youth.

For this reason we joined the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (NNED), which is a network of diverse racial, ethnic and cultural communities who seek to promote policies, practices, standards and research to eliminate behavioral health disparities.

Within the NNED there are many workgroups, which the NNED calls “learning clusters” that work on specific issues, such as community-defined evidence, integration of behavioral health and primary care, and implementing SBIRT into community health centers. The National Federation is leading up the learning cluster on Advocacy and Community Engagement (ACE).

Its purpose is to build on the experiences and expertise of community leaders and groups in multicultural communities who have been successful in advocating for greater awareness of disparities, and who have been able to make policy and practice changes in behavioral health and related systems.

The ACE is currently working on two projects: developing a Community Bill of Rights and developing a youth engagement and advocacy toolkit. Below is our working draft of the Bill of Rights, as of June 2010.

Community Bill of Rights

1. I have the right to speak and to help make decisions about my behavioral, emotional and mental health care and/or my child(ren)’s behavioral, emotional and mental health care.
2. I have the right to know about all treatment options, including those not easily accessible, those beyond the medical model, and those healing practices within my own culture.
3. I have the right to plan for future crises, e.g. by filling out an advanced directive for times that I might not be able to participate in decision-making about my own or my child’s treatment.
4. I have the right to ask for a provider who understands and respects my culture and can speak to me in my language.
5. I have the right to ask for and access an advocate who can help me understand and use my rights.
6. I have the right to set my own goals and to expect to reach my highest potential wellbeing.
7. I have the right to raise my own child(ren) with behavioral, emotional or mental disabilities, and get the help I need to do so successfully.
8. I have the same rights to safety, education, and non-discrimination as any other individual.

If you would like to provide input on this draft, please e-mail Andrea Barnes (abarnes@ffcmh.org) with your name, position, and comments!