State action against a residential facility for troubled children has focused attention on that one facility’s problems, which came to light when a patient reported sexual contact by another youth at the facility.

A new report being released today provides a broader look at problems with children’s mental health services in the state, however, noting ongoing gaps in services and lack of coordination between agencies.

The state on April 25 ordered The Pines Residential Treatment Center, which operates three facilities in the Hampton Roads area, to stop accepting new patients, downgraded the facility’s operating license to provisional and outlined a nine-point plan of correction to take place over the next six months.

The Pines operates Crawford, Brighton and Kempsville centers. New admissions are barred at all three until the state lifts the restriction.

Items noted for correction include making sure all therapists meet licensing requirements, maintaining a staff-resident ratio of no greater than 1:4, and reevaluating the mix of residents accepted, particularly referrals from corrections facilities, at the treatment facilities.

The action against The Pines came after concerns that a child’s complaints of sexual contact while at the facility were not handled properly by staff.

A state review determined the child’s complaints were not documented correctly, the state licensing office was not notified in a timely manner, and the victim’s guardian wasn’t notified within 24 hours.

Unrelated to that incident but providing some perspective on children’s mental health services is a report from advocacy group Voices for Virginia’s Children.

Many Virginia children with mental health needs go without help or don’t get sufficient help, according to the report out today.

The report, coupled with reports of serious safety issues at The Pines and crowded conditions at the state’s only mental health hospital for children, “point to a mental health system strained almost to the breaking point,” wrote Margaret Nimmo Crowe, senior policy analyst at Voices for Virginia’s Children.

It’s not just a Virginia problem, as an interview with a federal health official last year indicates. Fast forward to 2:20 to hear the scope of the problem described.