Congressional Testimony on Mental Health in Children and Youth

APA Member Louise Douce, Ph.D.
Director of Counseling and Consultative Services at Ohio State University

Testifies Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Subcommittee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health
The Honorable Mike Dewine, Chair

APA Member Louise Douce, Ph.D., testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions	Dr. Douce with Senators DeWine (R-OH) and Reed (D-RI) before the hearing

On Wednesday, April 28 th , Dr. Louise Douce, Ph.D., Director of Counseling and Consultative Services at Ohio State University testified before the Senate Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH). The hearing, entitled: Mental Health in Children and Youth: Issues Throughout the Developmental Process was convened to help Subcommittee members better understand the needs, strengths, weaknesses and problems associated with the provision of mental health services to children from the ages of birth to 25.

Recommended by APA's Public Policy Office, Dr. Douce was invited to come to Washington and provide testimony on the mental and behavioral health needs of college students. Her testimony was well received. Using examples from her campus and national statistics, she clearly articulated why mental and behavioral health services on college campuses are important. Further, she outlined some of the major issues in college student mental health, including depression; anxiety and anger; eating disorders; traumatic stress reactions following exposure to violence in the community and war; date rape, harassment and stalking; family discord, dysfunction and abuse; disasters around the world; alcohol and substance abuse; and future career and crisis of hope.

Throughout her testimony, Dr. Douce did a fantastic job promoting S. 2215 – APA's policy proposal, the Campus Care and Counseling Act. Introduced in March of this year by two Subcommittee members, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Mike DeWine (R-OH), the legislation authorizes $10 million for competitive grants to centers on college campus that provide mental and behavioral health services to students (See Action Alert from March 2004). She was an outstanding witness and thoughtfully answered questions from both Senators DeWine and Reed.

Overall, psychology was very well represented at the subcommittee hearing. In addition to Dr. Douce, two other expert psychologists testified: Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D. Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Public Health of Louisiana State University and President of Zero to Three (also an APA Member) and Maryann Davis, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the of University of Massachusetts Medical School, Center for Mental Health Services Research.

Links:

	Read Dr. Louise Douce's Testimony Presented to the US Senate Subcommittee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health
	Read Senator Mike DeWine's Statement on Children and Mental Health
	Read Senator Jack Reed's Statement on Increasing and Enhancing Mental and Behavioral Health Services Available to College Students
	Take Action on Supporting the Campus Care and Counseling Act

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