A program for youth in the ‘deep end’ of mental health crises on the chopping block

A program that helps Massachusetts children and teenagers with severe mental health is on the chopping block, slated in Gov. Maura Healey’s budget proposal for next year’s deep cuts.5 Investigates sat down with a mother who credits this program with saving her child’s life.The mother, who agreed to be interviewed so long as she not be identified, said she first noticed that something was wrong in the third grade.”I was called into the school, and they said, ‘We have something to discuss with you. It’s a little disturbing. Your child is telling us that Bugs Bunny is telling them what to do.'”The next four years were a cycle of suicide attempts, emergency department visits, and in-patient stays for her child.”Every single day, I’d wake up and not know if my child would be downstairs alive or not. And that was a terrifying feeling,” the mother said.Her child, now 25, uses the pronouns they and them and agreed to share some of the darkest moments of their life. “I was struggling a lot with suicidality, self-harm and some other past traumas,” they said. “It’s almost like you’re wearing these dark glasses, and your heart feels heavy. It feels like concrete, and there’s no other way to lift it up.”In 2013, they entered what’s called an Intensive Residential Treatment Program, and it changed the course of their life.In-patient hospital stays were short-term, their mother said, and mostly focused on stabilization and safety. This program was long-term, focused on treatment and offered resources to help the entire family heal.It’s also set up to treat all kids, including those who identify as non-binary or transgender, something the one other program in the state does not do.”They were just really graceful, and they never made me feel unsafe,” they said.”Where would you be if it weren’t for this program?” 5 Investigates’ reporter Brittany Johnson, asked.”Oh, dead. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely,” they replied.”The goal is to get them out of that revolving door that takes them from their home, to the emergency department, to psych hospitalizations, to release — around and around they go,” Lydia Todd, executive director of NFI Massachusetts, a nonprofit that runs Intensive Residential Treatment Programs in Westborough.”What we know is if we can get them on the right track now, then not only do they have a much better quality of life and their whole family system does, but we also can keep them from graduating into the adult mental health system or into the Department of Corrections,” Todd said.The program is on the budgetary chopping block.Healey’s proposed budget would cut all 12 of the beds set aside for 6-to 12-year-olds and half of the 60 adolescent beds in the state, which would be a $15 million savings. Beverly-based NFI runs the adolescent program that would be cut, leaving another adolescent program run by a different non-profit.A spokesperson from the Department of Mental Health emailed the following statement: “The Department of Mental Health is committed to supporting mental health needs across our state, and our budget proposes more than $1.2 billion – a 7 percent increase from the prior year’s GAA. Our administration continues to fully support implementation of the state’s Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform, including expanded access to care through the 31 Community Behavioral Health Centers and the Behavioral Health Help Line, along with other mental health resources provided through our colleagues at MassHealth, the Department of Public Health, and Executive Office of Education. The DMH budget proposal is focused on using available resources most effectively, so we can continue to provide the most impactful care and services for the people who need us most.” – DMH spokesperson The state also said it targeted these programs because they’ve been operating at about half capacity.NFI told us that’s because of bureaucratic issues they had been working through, not because of lack of need.”If this program went away, I can guarantee you that there is going to be children walking around right now that will not be here in a few years,” the mother said.That could have been her child, but instead, mom has “the joy that I have to know that I can go to the beach with my child, that I know my child is going to grow old, and I’m going to have them with me for the rest of my life,” she said. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health offered these resources for anyone looking for help: • If you are experiencing emotional distress or thoughts of suicide and need someone to talk to, call 988 for free, confidential emotional support. Learn more: www.mass.gov/988-suicide-and-crisis-lifeline• If you or someone you care about is struggling with mental health or substance use, you can call or text the new Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line (BHHL) at 833-773-2445 for real-time clinical assessment. The BHHL is free, no insurance needed, and available 24/7 in over 200 languages to connect you directly to the full range of treatment services offered in Massachusetts. Learn more: www.masshelpline.com• For mental health or substance use evaluation and treatment in your own community, call or visit a Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) near you. 25 CBHCs across the state serve as entry points for timely, high-quality, evidence-based treatment for mental health and substance use, including routine appointments, urgent visits, and community-based crisis intervention. Learn more: www.mass.gov/CBHCs

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