Reply #1: The problem is that the resources don't exist [View All]

[LiberalEsto]

I live in an area with of the nation's largest, best school systems - Montgomery County, Maryland. My kids went through the public school system here and graduated about a decade ago. Since then, resources have been cut again and again. When my kids were there, there might have been one guidance counselor rotating through a couple or more elementary schools. The ones in middle and high schools were swamped. In-school nurses have been replaced by health techs. I have no idea what they have now.

When my older one was in middle school, she was harassed by another girl who we heard was being horribly abused. If she did something wrong, her parents beat her and forced her to sleep outside the house. We called guidance counselors and administrators multiple times, begging them to do something to help this kid, who was taking her own misery out on my daughter. I called Child Protective Services too. They may have visited the family, but if there were no visible injuries on the kid, nothing could be done, so the kid was stuck there with her abusive family.

I once worked for an organization (Center for Assault Prevention) that teaches kids how to resist and report abuse, and I know from personal experience that government child protective services are overwhelmed with huge caseloads and insufficient staff and enforcement powers. There aren't enough good foster homes or other placement options available.

Bottom line: the system does not have adequate resources to help kids with mental problems at any age, even in an affluent county like MoCo, MD. And those few resources keep getting cut and cut because of budget gaps. It is a fucking emergency for kids with mental health issues.