Congressional Record

Representative Connie Morella Salutes
Lourie Center's 10th Anniversary

H5466 Congressional Record - House July 12, 1994

TRIBUTE TO THE REGINALD S. LOURIE
CENTER FOR INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the speaker's announced policy of February 11, 1994, and June 10, 1994, the gentlewoman from Maryland (MRS. MORELLA) is recognized during morning business for 3 minutes.

MRS. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to honor the Reginald S. Lourie Center on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. The Lourie Center, located in Rockville, MD is a national pioneer in developing and applying early intervention techniques to diagnose and treat emotional and developmental problems in young children from birth to 8 years of age.

The center's emphasis on early intervention focuses on identifying and treating emotional and developmental problems in the early years of life, before such problems become entrenched, more difficult for the families, and more costly to treat. This approach is an important model to consider as we wrestle with health care reform legislation.

This year, as the Lourie Center celebrates its 10th anniversary, it already has been recognized as a leader in its field. Tipper Gore has praised the Center for its innovative role in the treatment of children with emotional and developmental difficulties. Mrs. Gore, who was the recipient of a special award from the center for her work on children's mental health issues, stated that the center "has enormous import for mental health of this Nation's children and families." In addition, distinguished opera star, Beverly Sills, a mother of two children with birth defects, has praised the Lourie Center for "easing the burden of children and their families through early intervention in diagnosis and treatment." Ms. Sills was the featured speaker at the center's 10th anniversary dinner.

The Lourie Center serves families from all income levels, and without regard to their ability to pay. The center's clients include young children who have withdrawn from the world around them: children in foster care who are insecure in their setting; children who have been abused and neglected; children who are angry, anxious or fearful, and who can't get along in day care or primary school. The center also serves as a link between such children and parents who are often depressed and despairing, parents who need support and education in order to be better parents.

The center is named for the late Dr. Reginald Lourie, a distinguished child psychiatrist who cofounded the agency in early 1980's. He and his colleagues won a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to test the proposition that it is feasible to diagnose and treat emotional and developmental problems in very young children, even infants.

The Lourie Center evolved from that six-year NIMH clinical research project, which demonstrated the value of early intervention services in helping young children and their families get an emotionally healthy start in life.

Now, 10 years later, the center has an interdisciplinary staff of 40 professionals and serves 400 Washington area children and their families every year.

In addition the center's staff engages in wide variety of research activities and provides early intervention training for hundreds of health and mental health professionals.

Last year, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University--and with funding from the U.S. Dept. of Education-the Lourie Center began offering one of the Nation's first graduate degree program with a concentration in the field of infant mental health.

This is just a latest example of the pioneering role of Montgomery County's Lourie Center in efforts which are vitally important to our children, and our communities.