Family Insight Magazine

[ 2 6 ] M O O R E & M O O R E

S ubstance A buse D isorder & M ental H ealth R ecovery in A frican- A merican Y outh

F indings from the Institute of Medicine have shown minority youth have less access to, and lower quality of, behavioral health services. The reasons for this, like many racial disparities, stem from a combination of factors, including lack of insurance, lack of parental involvement, school oversight, geography and income level. Communities of color, due to decades of barriers in access to care, may be more tolerant of suffering and less likely to seek help or treatment. A study on help-seeking attitudes in behavioral health care found more negative attitudes among younger English-speaking Latinos and African Americans than non-Latino Whites. Additionally, communities with higher percentages of African-American and Latino residents are four times more likely than non-Latino White communities to have a shortage of healthcare providers, regardless of community income. On top of that, many African-Americans lack insurance. More than 60% of uninsured children are African American or Latino. However, even in cases of equal insurance coverage, disparities still exist. In Tennessee, for example, more white youth than black youth used Medicaid substance abuse services. And in Maryland, African-American youths with Medicaid were less likely to be prescribed psychotropic medication. It could be that some of these disparities

“The majority of behavioral health services youth receive are recived either at school or at the request of school personnel.”

also lie in the school system. Schools are the first line for early detection of behavioral health problems.The majority of behavioral health services youth receive are received either at school or at the request of school personnel. In a cross-sectional sample of adolescents using school-based health clinics, half of the population serviced were minority youth (22% Black and 28% Latino). Unfortunately minority youth are often under-identified by their schools.