OHIO YAB presentation for the Ohio Department of Mental Health

On Friday, April 12, 2024 at 10 am, OHIO YAB Ambassador Aaron Brown participated in a virtual meeting with Janel Pequignot and Milan Karna of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. 

This presentation echoed concerns shared during the Friday Feb. 16th presentation for the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. 

The top three asks were: 

a.) Additional State Funding to Support QRTP Placements (and Avoid Youth Spending Nights in Buildings Due to Lack of Available Placements) 
b.) Youth Voice in QRTP Training
c.) Establishment of a Medical Ombudsman (and/or some type of Statewide Technical Assistance to Avoid and Address Misdiagnosis and Overmedication of Foster Youth) 

Aaron shared that the importance, vitality and nature of the OHIO YAB is youth led. He thanked Janel and Milan for listening, and said that, "We are talking about mental health, and we are also talking about morality, when it comes to abrupt diagnosis and overmedication. Ohio foster care youth have the right to trauma-informed care.  It is no small feat to share on behalf of all youth about what they experience in residential placements."

Aaron quoted from his previous written testimony to share that:

• Just as the state of Ohio now has a Youth Ombudsman Office, it would deeply benefit from a Medical Ombudsman as well. So that foster care youth who are overmedicated and misdiagnosed would have recourse, and a resource to go to for a second opinion. Through the brokenness of the system, I have learned that we all deserve quality care in every aspect our lives – especially healthcare.

• The medical treatment that was afforded to me as a minor adolescent in the system can be equated to the experimentation of a guinea pig, due to the excess of illinformed prescriptions that these licensed and certified physicians and therapists were testing out on me. Those who have not experienced overmedication cannot understand the splitting of the mind and the honeycombing of my brain that I experienced as a byproduct of being forced on certain medication regimens at such a young age. Nor can they understand the fortitude that it takes to recover from this experience. 

 Janel shared that help with QRTP at the beginning for agencies came from federal funds. There were two rounds of funding and a discussion of a third, but she isn't sure that the third one happened. She said that this was a joint effort between ODJFS and the Ohio Department of Mental Health, and that they tried to provide both flexibility and accountability, and invited the providers to provide plans on how they would adapt to QRTP standards. She doesn’t know if there are plans for additional funding supports for agencies to support them in becoming qualified residential treatment programs.
 

Janel shared that she and Milan interested in the three OHIO YAB Asks, and routing our requests up.  There is a renewed commitment by the administration to get more things accomplished by the end of the Governor’s term.

Creating a Medical Ombudsman will require a deeper discussion, because it's difficult for a medical professional to have authority over another. Technical assistance and support might be a first step in that direction. This might provide a venue for youth and those who care about them to get a second opinion. 

Aaron thanked Janel and Milan for listening and for looking into solutions: "Thank you for your proactivity vs. reactivity. I felt seen and heard today; I love the transparency. I’m praying to the heavens that we’ve done the youth justice - and we hope that our conviction has sparked your resolve.”