“If only he had told me he was in pain … if only she had told me she was struggling … if only I had known … if only.” The words are heart-rending.
CHOC Children’s is working to make the lament “if only” less common with financial support from some of Orange County’s top companies.
In April, it opened its Mental Health Inpatient Center, the only facility in Orange County that includes inpatient services for patients younger than 12.
The 18-bed facility treats children and young adults from ages 3 to 18, and offers special programs for kids under 12.
The center’s cost was $13.2 million.
It was made possible with the support of several OC business A-listers: Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, co-managing partner at C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, committed $5 million to the initiative; and the Pacific Life Foundation gave $500,000, as did the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.
The founders of Saddleback Church, pastors Rick and Kay Warren, who lost their son Matthew to suicide in 2013, committed $500,000 through the Rick & Kay Warren Foundation.
Harry Winston, the From the Heart/Sharon D. Lund Foundation and the Samueli Institute also wrote sizeable checks.
“Private and corporate donations made building and opening the center much faster,” said Madeline Hall, senior associate director of foundation relations for CHOC. Hall says that approximately 90% of the funding came from private and corporate donations. Just $1.4 million was government-funded.
“Corporations typically want to see how their contribution will be effective,” said Doug Corbin, vice president and chief development officer at CHOC. “These companies are investing, not giving. Twenty or thirty years ago, companies just wrote a check. Now companies are investing in charity for a social return. And I can’t think of a better reason.”
Investing in the Future
The World Health Organization says that five of the top 10 leading causes of disability worldwide are mental health issues: depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, alcohol abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The afflictions—together with anxiety and stress—can have a definitive impact on any professional environment.
The impact of mental health problems in the workplace has serious consequences for the individual and the bottom line. Employee performance, rates of illness, absenteeism, accidents and staff turnover are all affected by employees’ mental health status.
Without improved treatment, the world will lose 12 billion workdays to depression and anxiety disorders alone by 2030, according to WHO.
Addressing mental health resources can be the key to a more productive future workforce, and some experts speculate, reducing homelessness attributed to mental health issues can, too, according to Dr. Heather C. Huszti, chief psychologist at CHOC.
“Mental health issues don’t operate in a vacuum,” she said. “Dealing with mental health can help people reach their full potential.”
The business community seems to agree.
“[CHOC] identified a growing need within this community to better support our youth who are having severe struggles with mental illness,” said Tennyson Oyler, president of Pacific Life Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Newport Beach-based insurance giant. “We value being involved with an effort that is filling a serious gap in our community.”
Children in Crisis
The mental health crisis among children, teens and young adults is worsening, according to reports.
According to the 2017 Community Indicators Report, a survey of Orange County high school students revealed that 23% of girls and 15% of boys “seriously considered committing suicide” in the preceding 12 months.
Mental Health America, the country’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to the needs of those living with mental illness, reports that rates of youth with severe depression increased from 5.9% in 2012 to 8.2% in 2015.
“One in five children experience a diagnosable mental health
condition during childhood—150,000 children in Orange County,” Huszti said.
The center is needed because half of adults with mental health problems first had symptoms before the age of 14, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Left untreated, mental health issues in children can have a major impact on the quality of their lives as adults, personally and professionally.
Studies by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration show that 20% to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness.
Filling the Gap
The number of counties in the state without inpatient beds available for adolescents is notoriously small, according to the California Hospitals Association. Forty-seven counties, 81% of the state, have no adolescent beds. Children in the midst of a mental health incident travel long distances to get emergency inpatient care, which can compound the trauma. Before CHOC opened its center, children and their families typically had to go to Los Angeles, San Bernardino or as far as San Diego to get treated.
In OC, there are now just 32 beds available for teens.
CHOC Children’s Mental Health Inpatient Center’s 18-bed facility is now the largest in the state.
It was built with two goals in mind: patient safety and creating a healing environment.
All of the rooms in the 12,000-square-foot facility are private, and parents can stay the night. The center’s design includes elements of nature, curved features and a color palette to promote healing and relaxation. The features include two sensory rooms to help children learn to manage strong emotions and calm themselves. There’s also a 3,600-square-foot outdoor play area and a basketball court.
“Even though the center is now completed, we still need the community’s help,” said Corbin. “It’s like we built a car; now we need gas money.”
Corbin says contributions will fund the programs to ensure that any child can receive the mental healthcare services they need in a safe and healing environment.
A Complete Approach
Other components of CHOC’s mental health outreach include the Psychiatric Access Line, a pilot program starting in January.
It was established with a $200,000 grant from the James M. Cox Foundation and Cox Communications. The program will connect pediatricians treating children with mental illnesses to social workers, who will then connect them to board-certified psychiatrists—all within an hour.
The mental health triage at the Julia and George Argyros Emergency Department at CHOC is an important part of the overall approach—the program aims to reduce behavior-related school suspensions.
After a patient has ended his or her stay—typically between seven and 10 days—at the Mental Health Inpatient Center, their caregivers coordinate an outpatient plan.
CHOC’s intensive outpatient program is called ASPIRE, After School Program Interventions and Resiliency Education, designed to prevent psychiatric hospitalization and readmission.
“It’s important that young people see a professional who is a child expert,” says Huszti. “You can’t treat children’s mental health issues the same way you do adults. Children’s brains are still developing.”
With the advent of the Mental Health Inpatient Center, children with serious mental health issues and their families have access to professionals who have the resources, programs and support within the proximity that will make a true impact—designed to save a family from saying “if only.”
“The days of sticking our collective heads in the sand [are] over,” Corbin stressed.
“We have to collectively address the issues. Treatment does work. We’ve seen patients blossom. And what is more important than that?”
