Home Affairs Minister Urges Local Governments to Prioritise Mental Health of Children and Adolescents
Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian emphasised that the issue of mental health among children and adolescents requires serious attention from regional governments. He asked regional leaders to support these efforts, including by allocating funds in the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD). He spoke at the Ministerial-Level Coordination Meeting on Synchronisation, Coordination and Control (SKP) for the Prevention and Handling of Mental Health Problems in Children and Adolescents at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK) in Jakarta, on Thursday, 5 March. ‘So, if we want to programme this, the funds must be allocated at the APBD planning stage,’ he said.
The Minister acknowledged that the fiscal capacity of each region varies. Therefore, the central government should intervene for regions with limited budget capacity to ensure the programme can still be carried out. He also stressed the need to provide regional heads with an understanding of the importance of the issue so that the support provided can be optimal. To that end, he proposed a special virtual meeting with regional heads to discuss the issue. ‘We will invite them so that they are required to attend,’ he explained.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, he added, will oversee that the programme is embedded in local policy and the APBD, including through the issuance of circular letters regarding the role of local governments in addressing the mental health issues of children and adolescents. In drafting the policy, the Ministry of Home Affairs will coordinate with several relevant ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), and the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK). ‘For instance, the PPPA Ministry may be involved, or the Health Ministry, or the Coordinating Ministers. What exactly must they do? Because the programme must have a clearly defined set of actions,’ he said.
Separately, he proposed implementing reward and incentive mechanisms for regions that successfully implement the mental health programme for children and adolescents. He noted that such steps could motivate regional governments to take the issue more seriously.
Attending the forum were Coordinating Minister for PMK Pratikno, Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar, Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Abdul Mu’ti, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf. Also present were Minister of Communications and Informatics Meutya Hafid, Minister of Population and Family Development Wihaji, Minister of Empowerment of Women and Child Protection Arifah Fauzi, and Inspector General of Police Wahyu Widada. At the end of the meeting, nine ministers signed a Joint Decree (SKB) on Child and Adolescent Mental Health.