As kids return to CT schools, mental health needs spike
As Connecticut students return to school, the number of children seeking emergency mental health care spikes because of increased stress and more teacher referrals to services, officials said Wednesday.
The return to school and break in summer routine can be stressful, especially for children who may already have mental health problems. At the same time, health care officials said, teachers and other school staff are now interacting with children and referring them for help.
The number of kids with mental health needs in the emergency departments increases at the start of a new school year, as does the number of children visiting the state’s urgent crisis centers, officials said at the Wednesday press conference.
“This is supposed to be a really exciting time. You have kids going back to school,” said Dr. Laine Taylor, chief medical officer at The Village for Families and Children. “What it is, really, is a transition for some kids that can be exciting, but for other kids that can be anxiety provoking, that can cause a lot of stress and kids to feel overwhelmed.”
Annually, about 1 in 5 children, or 2,500 kids, who visit the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center are found to be at risk for suicide, said Dr. Steven Rogers, a pediatric emergency medicine physician working on youth suicide prevention. During the summer, the hospital typically has a census of about 10 to 20 children with severe mental health needs, but that number can jump to 30 during the school year.
The medical center has launched a Youth Suicide Prevention Center to help screen and treat children for mental health needs.
Since the pandemic, Connecticut families have reported that their children have had more frequent occurrences of mental illness and that those symptoms are more severe. Last summer, the state saw a spike in youth suicides, and mental health service providers have reported that their resources are stretched thin.
In response to the heightened need for mental health care, the state legislature in 2022 approved a law that established urgent crisis centers that aim to treat children with emergency mental health needs and keep those kids out of the emergency department where possible.
The centers are located in Waterbury, Hartford, New London and New Haven.
Department of Children and Families interim Commissioner Susan Hamilton said she’d seen the need in her work at the agency and that urgent crisis centers offer an avenue to “provide support and access in a way that is more immediately available and more tied to the individual needs and circumstances for the children and families involved.”
The programs have been successful in keeping kids in their homes during treatment rather than sending them for inpatient hospital care.
“They will take care of your child. It’s become our safe haven,” said Lisa Paradis, a parent whose daughter has gotten services at the crisis centers.
Medical professionals also said parents whose children are struggling should talk with them about their mental health needs.
Rogers said it’s best to ask questions directly of a child who might be struggling with suicidal ideation.
“Just asking direct questions is the best way to do that: ‘Are you having thoughts about suicide?,’” Rogers said. “Research haas shown that actually talking about suicide has prevented kids from dying.”
Parents with questions or concerns about their children’s mental health needs can also call 988, providers said.
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