The College of Nursing and Health Innovation announced Monday it will establish a health center that specializes in the treatment and prevention of children’s mental health disorders.

The Southwest Health Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child-Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Disorders will open Nov. 2 at the Downtown campus as part of the ASU Health Center.

The clinic is funded in part by United Healthcare and patient fees, Associate Dean Denise Link said.

Mental health care is an unmet need not only in Arizona but throughout the country, she said.

The clinic will increase awareness for the need of mental health services, Link said.

A 2009 report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine said the federal government should make it a national priority to prevent mental, emotional and behavioral disorders, and promote mental health in young people.

These disorders, which include depression, anxiety, conduct disorder and substance abuse, are about as common as fractured limbs in children and adolescents, according to the report.

An estimated 14 to 20 percent of young people have one of these disorders. First symptoms usually occur two to four years before the onset of a full-blown disorder. This creates an opportunity for preventive programs to make a difference, according to the report.

Some programs have been effective at preventing specific disorders in at-risk groups.

Because of a shortage of child psychiatrists, only 20 to 25 percent of children with mental health and behavioral problems receive treatment, according to the report, and the disorders cost the U.S. an estimated $247 billion annually.

One in every 10 children and adolescents are affected by serious emotional disturbances, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Primary care providers see 75 percent of children with mental health and behavioral problems and are in a unique position to manage their cases, Bernadette Melnyk said in a statement released by the nursing school.

“However, heavy case loads limit their capacity and time to treat all patients in need,” she said. “In Arizona, five of the 15 counties do not have child psychiatrists to which primary care physicians can refer their patients.”

The Southwest Health Center has psychiatric and mental health child-family nurse practitioners to help address this critical health care need, Melnyk said.

The center offers a range of services including mental health evaluation, treatment, management and monitoring of medication, therapy and preventative programs, she said.

The center will start with one nurse practitioner and then add more when it builds up its patient load. A nurse practitioner can see about five to seven patients a day, health center spokesman Terry Olbrysh said.

There are future plans for the clinic to offer tele-health services, so families who don’t live in Phoenix can communicate with nurse practitioners through Web casts, he said. It will increase the service to children in need of mental heath service, he said.

Pediatric and child-family psychiatric nurse practitioner Janet Cooper was appointed to direct the center.