A lack of mental health services in the middle

WSHU’s coverage of disparity issues in Connecticut was necessarily interrupted by coverage the tragic school shooting in Newtown. We plan to share more disparity-related stories soon. In the meantime, there was one story following the Newtown tragedy that raised an issue of disparity. Reporter Melinda Tuhus covered a news conference about mental health services for children, in which Yale professor Steven Marans, Director of the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence, said there was a disparity in the access to mental health coverage for kids.

“The poor have a certain baseline level of services and the wealthy can pay privately, and the middle class has very limited access,” he said.

Here’s Melinda Tuhus’ story:
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It’s an interesting parallel to our recent story about half-day vs. full-day kindergarten. Sometimes the people at the top of the economic spectrum in Connecticut can afford services, those at the bottom get financial assistance, and it’s tough to be stuck in the middle.