Katrina Kids: 10,000 displaced kids now suffering from clinically diagnosed depression — a 400 percent increase from before the storm

The negative impact on children of the very slow recovery on  the Gulf Coast continues. USA Today reported the following example...

BATON ROUGE — The leader of Louisiana's largest school system says she believes that up to 200 children in the state's biggest hurricane evacuee camp are not registered in local schools. And she says the U.S. government — citing privacy laws — is doing little to help officials identify the youths.

Other examples comes from a recent report by Columbia University and the Children's Health Fund which found.....

• Up to 35,000 children - one-third of those across the Gulf Coast still displaced by Hurricane Katrina - are having major problems with mental health, behavior or school, a new study indicates.

• 10,000 displaced children across the Gulf are now suffering from clinically diagnosed depression — a 400 percent increase from before the storm.

• More than half the parents and caregivers interviewed reported that at least one child had emotional or behavioral problems since the hurricane

• More than 60 percent of the parents and caregivers tested high for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder

• Somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 children still living in FEMA trailers

• One in six children who needed medical care for an illness or injury had not seen a doctor

• Three times as many children were without health insurance after Katrina than before the hurricane

• Nearly one-third of children aged 6 to 11 years had missed at least 10 days of school in one month during the last quarter of the spring 2006 semester. Four out of 10 teenagers missed that much school.

LSU Health Sciences Center compared results from screenings of children for mental health issues in August 2005, spring 2006 and this past fall finding only a drop from 49% to 41%  in the cutoff score for mental health referral. A psychologist concluded they were "certainly  not seeing a huge dropoff  in mental health symptoms and problems."

Dr. Irwin Redlener the director of Columbia University's National Center said of what is occurring ...."I've been doing advocacy and direct services for kids for more than 30 years. I've never seen anything like this."

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It is shameful that this continues to go on..... in America

Comments

[spocko]

Well I heard on talk radio the other day everything was fine in Governor Haley Barbour's state of Mississippi. Because he is a good Republican.

Not like those lazy, hard to get along with Democrats in Louisiana. I'm sure these problems are confined to the Children of Louisiana.

[scout prime]

Well spocko...not according to quite a few folk in MS I do believe. Damn talk radio

[TheaLogie]

Shameful, but hardly surprising, alas. I suspect that mental health provisions are much like other health provisions in this country - we have some of the best experts in the world on it, and it's generally the more aflluent folk who benefit from them; there are also the everyday psychiatrists nobly soldiering on in various hospitals, but so many people in dire need of them simply cannot afford to benefit from their work.

Would it be sacrilegious to wonder how the provisions of counseling (adult and pediatric alike) after Katrina compare with those for a similar demographic spread in NY after 9/11?

[dan mcenroe]

And she says the U.S. government — citing privacy laws — is doing little to help officials identify the youths.

SINCE WHEN DO THESE FUCKERS CARE ABOUT PRIVACY LAWS?

[MapleStreet]

Privacy is a tricky thing. But there are ways to do this that don't break privacy.

I'm not sure that I would appreciate someone knocking on my door saying, "Uh Mr. Smith. Our records indicate that you were in NOLA on March 17th and therefore we have signed you up for counseling."

However, it is perfectly permissible for them to have FEMA include a flier in their distribution letting folks know that services are available.

So much of ethics and law are how you do things.

[slim]

I seem to remember there was government-paid counseling made available after 9/11, and information about that was widely distributed all over Manhattan. It was basically available to anyone in Manhattan/DC that was experiencing psychological distress after the attacks.

But of course, 9/11 was a national tragedy. Katrina was just bad luck for poor black people who refused to take care of themselves.

[Alex Fetcher]

Great site!
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