A Challenging Future: Current Barriers and Recommended Action for Our Field:

*More than ever before it is dangerous to be a child in the United States. The fact that increasingly more children and youth are developing emotional and behavioral difficulties has been well-documented (e.g., National Mental Health Association, 1989; Walker, Colvin, & Ramsey, 1995). Social risk factors, inhumane public policies, and educational stagnation contribute to this risk, as evidenced by deteriorating family structures; increased poverty; more violence at home, school, and in the neighborhood; and fewer social and mental health services. For those who care about and work with children and youth with EBD, these barriers are discouraging. Nevertheless, there is reason for hope and a clear agenda to persevere in our efforts to effectively educate these young people. Expanding Social Risk Factors A primary contributor to the increase in unhealthy child development pertains to families and communities. The traditional family structure has changed in the postmodern world (Elkind, 1995). The nuclear family is but one of many family forms as divorce, single-parent families, multiple marriages, and blended families have become the norm. In 1994, only 50.8% of all youths lived with both biological parents (Coontz, 1995). Fifty-nine percent of all children will live in a single-parent household by the age of 18 (Edelman, 1995), and poverty is on the rise. Approximately 22% of all children live at the poverty level, and it is estimated that close to one million children will be homeless in a given year ("By the Numbers," 1995; Harris, 1991). An additional one million or more children will run away from home due to family conflict (Edelman, 1995). Substance abuse in children and adults is approaching crisis levels. It is estimated that nearly 10 million children under age 18 are negatively affected by substance-abusing parents and that 10% of all children born in the United States are exposed to prenatal drug abuse (Edelman, 1995). One study found that 39% of high school seniors reported getting drunk regularly, and over one million adolescents are regular marijuana users (National Commission, 1990). Children and youth who are poor, male, and nonwhite are especially at risk in our society. Since many students labeled EBD fit this profile we must wonder what it is about our society that jeopardizes the health, well-being, and educational and social success of such a specific population. At the same time that societal risk factors are increasing, support services for children and their families are continually targeted for funding cuts or elimination. Members of the 104th Congress entered their session vowing to severely cut human service programs, believing they had this mandate from their constituencies. Fortunately, as a result of intense efforts from advocacy groups and individuals who would be most affected by such cuts, most programs were left intact. However, certain welfare programs were significantly reduced, particularly for individuals with mental impairments, thus weakening the safety net for these individuals (Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, 1996a). While fiscal year 1997 funding allows most existing mental health programs to continue, it does not allow for expansion to new sites as originally planned (Koyanagi & Schulzinger, 1996). There are promising models for integrated service delivery using a "wrap-around" approach in which needed services are provided in neighborhood schools (e.g., the CASSP model, Stroul & Friedman, 1986); however, these programs often face stiff opposition on several fronts, particularly from groups opposed to increased spending for social services and groups opposed to such programs being placed in schools. In addition, existing programs fall short of meeting the mental health needs for all students. For example, mental health services for incarcerated children are almost nonexistent (Federation of Families, 1996a). Unfortunately, for most children and youth with EBD, the few services they receive are too little, too late, and often too fragmented to be of real value. …