Sharing – Michigan kids in mental health crisis sent out of state as facilities close
Continuing on a theme that included the intro to the newsletter last week:
How do families cope when no one wants to fund resources in their local area? Situations like this can’t be the solution.
Eleanor Middlin was 15 when her family sent her to a Missouri boarding school, an 11-hour drive from her mid-Michigan home. It was the worst thing that ever happened to her. It also saved her life.
“I’m alive because of it, and I will never be able to forget it,” Middlin, now 20, told Bridge Michigan.
Her experience leaving Michigan for long-term care represents an emerging trend for the state’s youth in severe mental health crises.
I’m glad she was able to get help. I’m glad she is here and able to give this interview. How many kids aren’t because they didn’t have the option to go 11 hours away to receive the kind of care that would keep them here? Why is treatment for serious mental health issues so limited and hard to find?
It’s easy to talk about supporting mental health, but is it too much to ask that we fund the resources needed to provide that and allow them to exist in our neighborhoods?
It shouldn’t be.
