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At Thursday’s Stomp Out The Stigma conference, law enforcement and various agencies gathered to create momentum for local change in addressing mental health. Some of the most sobering statistics shared dealt with children and young adults. Dial Help Executive Director Rebecca Crane says over half of the calls her organization fields involve those under the age of 24. Some of that is demographic related. Michigan Tech has an undergraduate enrollment of over 5,500 students, mostly in that age cohort.
Portage Health Foundation Executive Director Kevin Store says his organization has found K-12 students are being subjected to the same stresses as those in college.
Store went on to call the situation a crisis and said it is tempting to only worry about getting to tomorrow.
Store says Portage Health Foundation is offering Youth Trauma and Resiliency programs to all area schools.
Crane says the share of Dial Help’s calls dealing with suicide have grown from two, maybe three percent up towards 12 percent since 2008. Beds for mental health crises are rare for adults across the Upper Peninsula, and non-existent for youths. The shortage is a state wide problem. Crane says some Lower Peninsula child mental health patients were forced to remain in an emergency room at the local hospital for three weeks before a dedicated bed could open up.
Dial Help is part of the Project AWARE grant program, which teaches education staff and community members to better recognize signs of mental illness. Mental health first aid is also a staple of the organization.
The issue creates problems for law enforcement. With limited staff, mental health crises tend to pull off-duty deputies, troopers, and officers back to work at the local and county level. Tragedies, or near tragedies, are common. Michigan State Police – Calumet Post dealt with a potentially suicidal child Wednesday afternoon. They were able to locate him unharmed after he ran away from his house in possession of a knife.
