Children and Mental Illness

A passion for me is mental health and children. I do most of my NAMI volunteer work geared at educating teachers and schools as well as parents and caregivers about childrens mental health. I find that our society does a dis-service to our children. Mental health is still in infancy for children, but that doesn't mean it can't exist in children. Here is what I see as a shocking story... This is from the National Alliance of Mental Illness website.


Children and Mental Illness
November 21, 2008

TIME magazine reports that Nebraska's child-abandonment law has revealed an urgent need to improve mental health services for children.
Most states allow a parent to leave an infant at a fire station or hospital without fear of prosecution, but Nebraska’s law currently does not define the age of a child. Parents have dropped off 34 children at Omaha hospitals since September and while none of the children were infants, a majority of the kids abandoned had a history of mental illness.
A revealing 90% of the parents or guardians had sought state services before abandoning their children. Some overwhelmed parents who cannot access mental health services for their children, due to factors such as limited numbers of child psychiatrists, facilities and restricted insurance coverage, are reluctantly abandoning their children as a last resort to get their kids help.
Legislation has been pending in Congress to avoid “custody relinquishment” in which states also often force parents to give up custody in order to get treatment for their children.


Additional Resources:
Government Accountability Office: Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice
Keeping Families Together Act
Safe Haven or Last Resort?

Family Photos

The Summer of 2008!

Checked out a Cave near Our Camping Site. Lyd wants to catch butterflies!!!

A fun Day spent in the Sun playing in the Sand!!! Yes, we played in the sand more than we did the water!! Go Figure!

JD and Lyd getting up in the morning. They were very excited to go back to the lake. And they thought sleeping in a tent for the first time was pretty cool... I would have preferred something more comfortable, but you know, it is easy to amuse small children.

Our Family

Vince and I have been together for 13 years now. Our two kids are growing...and growing fast! We run our internet business, and we are involved in our community non-profit organization. I am the Vice President of our Box Elder National Alliance on Mental Illness Board of Directors, and an Education Teacher. Vince is on the Advisory Board, Support Group Facilitator, and an Education Teacher. We have found that our involvement not only helps our family members who have brain disorders, but helps us give our time to a wonderful organization.

JD(his nickname) is in Kindergarten, and boy is it more than I expected... I mean trying to remember back to geometry! Yes, I have now decided to teach my preschooler Lyd(also our nickname for her) that the Diamond shape should be called a rhombus NOT a diamond since our son has to know that she might as well learn it too; one more thing she will know for next year! I figured things would have changed a bit since I was there (you know, in kindergarten), but didn't expect this... I am glad though, maybe it will be easier for them in the long run. JD keeps us on our toes and is always interested in staying busy and wants to go go go.

Lyd loves preschool. This is her second year and is loving it! She is our shy one, so not being in class with her older brother was a little scary but she adjusted well. She also likes to do homework with me and JD. I think she will be ready for kindergarten. Lyd is our explorer...If only she would leave those darn bugs outside!