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Early Intervention Is Critical to Successful Youth Outcomes

By February 7, 2017October 22nd, 2019No Comments

Did You Know…?

  • Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers?
  • 50% of teenagers with a mental illness drop out of school?
  • 70% of youth in state and local juvenile justice systems have a mental illness?

There are so many compelling statistics about youth mental illness, high school dropout rates and the criminal justice system, it’s frustrating to learn so many of our communities’ systems aren’t being proactive and collaborating to create change. Check out the infographic below.

What are we doing to catch at-risk kids, provide them help and support, and help them reach their potential, stay in school, get a job and lead productive lives? We find ourselves in a crisis with so many complexities involved due to the many interweaving systems.

There are a few communities that are working together, through training, to identify youth mental illness and connect families to the resources they need. To learn more, check out this article posted on Vox.com and Nami.org:

How America’s criminal justice system became the country’s mental health system

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11134908/criminal-justice-mental-health

Andrea Berryman Childreth

Author Andrea Berryman Childreth

Andrea Berryman Childreth is an award-winning author of the book, ON THE EDGE: Help and hope for parenting children with mental illness, founder of The Lemonade Project, advocate and parent coach. She has first-hand experience with parenting a mentally ill daughter and has struggled with mental illness, herself. Her goal is to help empower people to openly share their stories and improve access to equitable mental health services.

More posts by Andrea Berryman Childreth