Government sanctioned Assault on Children and Pregnant Women_
 
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)
Promoting openness and full disclosure
http://www.ahrp.org

FYI

President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health has set off
aggressive "screening for mental illness" initiatives that are nothing short
of an assault on personal dignity and legal rights. The target population of
forced mental health "screening" are America's children and pregnant women.

If allowed to go forth, these programs will create a totalitarian Orwellian
nightmare.

Illinois is on the fast-track of adopting legislation mandating mental
health testing for children and pregnant women:

"Sighting early intervention as key to academic success and crime
prevention,  this new law, if enacted according to current recommendations,
would also  require all pregnant women to be screened prior to delivery for
depression  and periodically for the first six months after she gives
birth."

"Screenings, testing, and treatments are to be offered in homes,
pre-schools,  daycare, and throughout the public school system. A child over
the age of 12  will be provided two mental health sessions without parental
consent."

This is not science fiction!

The Illinois Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 was signed into law. The
bill passed the Illinois General Assembly last spring, sponsored in the
House by State Representatives Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) and Patricia Bellock
(R-Westmont). State Senator Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest) and Susan Garrett
(D-Highwood) shepherded the legislation through the Senate.
The legislation passed the House with a 107 to 5 vote, and the Senate
unanimously.

The $10 million plan for the implementation of the Act is being considered
at this week's public forums.


There is absolutely no redeeming feature to ANY mandatory mental health
screening programs.  There are no proven "treatments" for the prevention of
mental illness.

Screening for mental illness programs are intended to give government
control in defiance of constitutional rights, while generating even greater
profits for the psychotropic drug / mental health industry.


Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
Tel: 212-595-8974
e-mail: veracare@ahrp.org


_________

What are your thoughts concerning the issues raised in this story? Write a
letter to the editor at letters@illinoisleader.com, and include your name
and town.


http://illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=17852

Chldren's Mental Health task force hearings continue through Friday
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
 - by Rhonda Robinson, Central Illinois correspondent SPRINGFIELD --

As public forums continue this week throughout the state, more  concerns are
emerging as parents learn of a new mental health screening plan  for
Illinois' children ages zero through 18 and pregnant women.

"Children's Mental Health: An Urgent Priority for Illinois," the 53 page
report in which The Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 is based upon
details a vast new bureaucracy which stresses intervention and treatment for
all Illinois children from the womb and continues throughout adolescence, at
age 18.

Sighting early intervention as key to academic success and crime prevention,
this new law, if enacted according to current recommendations, would also
require all pregnant women to be screened prior to delivery for depression
and periodically for the first six months after she gives birth.

"This is a major piece of legislation," Mike Burke, Ounce of Prevention's
director of communications told IllinoisLeader.com. "We know that behavior
is shaped in the early years, and that emotional well being is affected by
complications with birth. This act forces Illinois to recognize the
importance of children's emotional well being."

The Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 requires the development of a state
Children's Mental Health Plan and creates a special Children's Mental Health
Fund in the State Treasury.

Screenings, testing, and treatments are to be offered in homes, pre-schools,
daycare, and throughout the public school system. A child over the age of 12
will be provided two mental health sessions without parental consent.

This Act creates a "Children's Mental Health Partnership" that reports
directly to the Governor. It requires the Illinois State Board of Education
to develop and implement a plan that incorporates social and emotional
standards as part of the mandated Illinois Learning Standards, due on the
Governors desk by December 31, 2004.

All Illinois School districts are required to develop a policy incorporating
emotional and social development into the district's educational program.
 This policy is to be submitted to the ISBE by August 31,2004.

The report states the policy the schools adopt should address "teaching and
assessing social and emotional skills and protocols for responding to
children with mental health problems that impact learning ability."

It also says that the program will monitor school systems' collecting and
reporting of information about student progress on social and emotional
development and the social climate of a school, and increase the number of
school-based health centers equipped to provide mental health services.

Funding to implement these policies are not outlined fully in the report.

The report acknowledges that mental health in Illinois is severely under
funded, and children's mental health can "hardly be called a system" and
yet, this massive creation of a new bureaucracy which expands it's reach to
pregnant women, infants and eighteen year olds, in it's current form, is
laden with unfunded mandates for the school system and a host of other
agency currently offering services to Illinois children.

The Department of Human Services estimates this act will expand the
population within the system an increase of 5,000 new clients costing an
estimated $10 million.

Public hearings will be in Rockford on Thursday and Chicago on Friday.

C 2004 IllinoisLeader.com -- all rights reserved

IL launches compulsory mental health screening for children and pregnant
women

Monday, July 19, 2004

By The Leader-Chicago Bureau
 
 CHICAGO -- This week, a series of public forums on a program requiring all
pregnant women and children through age 18 years to be tested for mental
health needs is being held this week in five different locations statewide.

One group of parents learned about the state's plans to proceed with this
program and on Monday issued an alarm asking for parents and citizens
concerned about the new program to voice their opinions at the forums.

"We're moving toward social training over academic training with this
program," Larry Trainor, a Mt. Prospect parent of four children and a
contact for Citizens Commission on Human Rights, based in Los Angeles, said
today.

"Since psychiatric involvement in education, SAT scores have gone down for
the past few decades. Evaluating mental conditions is not based on
scientific evidence, it's subjective," he said.

The $10 million plan for the setup of the Children's Mental Health Act of
2003 is being considered at this week's public forums starting Monday, July
18 in Champaign.

Signed into law, the bill passed the Illinois General Assembly last spring,
sponsored in the House by State Representatives Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) and
Patricia Bellock (R-Westmont). State Senator Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest)
and Susan Garrett (D-Highwood) shepherded the legislation through the
Senate.

The legislation passed the House with a 107 to 5 vote, and the Senate
unanimously.

"What if they find a student has a math disorder, a reading disorder. Would
that be a mental health disorder, one that would cause the parents to put
their children with a drug for a condition they may or may not have?"
Trainor asked.

The mental health program will develop a mental health system for "all
children ages 0-18 years," provide for screening to "ensure appropriate and
culturally relevant assessment of young children's social and emotional
development with the use of standardized tools."

Also, all pregnant women will be screened for depression and thereafter
following her baby's birth, up to one year. Follow-up treatment services
will also be provided.

Trainor said that he is trying to get parents and citizens out to voice
their opinion about the new program.

Apparently, children's mental health will be assessed along with their
academic standards in the new proposed testing. The Illinois State Board of
Education has been given the responsibility to develop the appropriate
tests, according to last year's legislation.

The Task Force hosting the public forums this week are to send a
recommendation to Governor Blagojevich by the end of the summer, according
to the Act (HB 2900).


Developing story . . .
----------
Monday, July 19 Champaign-Urbana/1:00 pm to 5:00 pm/Illinois Terminal
Building, 4th floor/45 E. University Ave., Champaign

Tuesday, July 20 Mt. Vernon/ 9:00 am to 1:00 pm/ Central Christian Church/
301 N. 10th St.

Wednesday, July 21 Edwardsville/9:00 am to 1:00 pm/ Edwardsville High
School/ 6161 Center Grove Rd.

Thursday, July 22 Rockford/1:00 am to 5:00 pm/Rockford Memorial Hospital,
Funderburg Auditorium/2400 N. Rockton Ave.

Friday, July 23 Chicago /9:00 am to 1:00 pm/Spertus Institute/ 618 S.
Michigan Ave.

C 2004 Illinois Leader.com -- all rights reserved

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