LYNN — Mental health professionals and elected officials gathered on Thursday morning to discuss youth services in honor of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day and National Mental Health Awareness Month.
The meeting was facilitated by Children’s Friend & Family Services, a division of Justice Resource Institute (JRI) that provides mental health services to youth and families north of Boston.
Mayor Thomas M. McGee read a proclamation from the city recognizing the importance of mental health and marking Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week.
Also in attendance were state Rep. Daniel Cahill (D-Lynn), representatives from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Parent/Professional Advocacy League, Express Yourself, Youth Move and the NAN Project.
Joy Richmond-Smith, Greater Lynn area director at Children’s Friend & Family Services, said system of care, or resource sharing meetings, are held each month, where budget providers and community members who work with children and families brainstorm and try to problem solve.
The topics vary, but mental health is the focus each May. Discussed on Thursday was the need for more after-school programming in the region and how children with mental health emergencies get stuck in the emergency room at hospitals because there’s not enough beds at psychiatric hospitals, Richmond-Smith said.
Richmond-Smith said other topics included how best to support families and youth with mental health needs who are undocumented and about youth who age and transition out of supports. She said a lot of youth in that group can end up homeless because they are cast out into the world without any support and don’t have the skills to hold down a job.
Another focus, she said, was bringing more awareness to mental health. There’s still a stigma and people can feel embarrassed about having a mental health issue, and don’t want to discuss or acknowledge something is going on.
The focus for the National Mental Health Awareness Month this year is fitness for body and for mind, or the connection between mental and physical health, Richmond-Smith said.
The mayoral proclamation reads that one in five children has a diagnosable mental health disorder and half of all lifetime instances of mental illness begin before age 14, and that even children with the most intense needs and some who are not insured may not receive services.
“Children with mental health needs in elementary, middle and high school are more likely to be bullied, absent, suspended, expelled or fail to graduate and…learning to recognize the early signs of mental health needs and where to obtain the necessary support, assistance and treatment gives children and youth better opportunities to lead full and productive lives,” reads the proclamation.
