Mental Care for Children - NYTimes.com "Trying to Keep Students" Mental Health Care Out of the E.R.," by Michael Winerip (On Education column, April 9), describes a story that unfortunately occurs too often in New York City public schools. While the focus of the column was on costly emergency room admissions, it did not address the need for additional money to support school-based mental health services. These services are a cost-effective way to provide the proper level of care to children where they spend most of their day. Furthermore, evidence has shown that untreated mental health problems in children may interfere with their academic performance. Because of the insufficient financing of services, some school-based mental health clinics have had to close. We are doing a disservice to children by not providing sufficient mental health services in schools. It is crucial that additional money be identified to support the range of mental health services that clinics provide to children, families and Department of Education staff members. The writer is director of city and federal policy and advocacy, Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies.