Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act of 2005

H.R. 1106, the Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act of 2005, aims to address the shortage of mental health professionals specializing in the care of children and adolescents. The bill proposes creating financial incentives, such as student loan repayments and scholarships, for individuals who commit to working in child and adolescent mental health services. Additionally, it provides grants to universities and healthcare organizations to expand training programs for both professional and paraprofessional mental health workers.

For families, this legislation is intended to increase the availability and accessibility of specialized mental health care by growing the workforce of qualified doctors, therapists, and counselors. By adjusting Medicare rules for medical residency and funding new internships, the bill seeks to ensure that more healthcare providers are trained specifically to meet the developmental and emotional needs of younger patients. Finally, the bill requires a federal study to identify which regions of the country have the greatest need for these specialists to better distribute resources.