Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread… Feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide — and rates have increased over the past decade. The future wellbeing of our country depends on how we support and invest in the next generation.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy
Advocates for
Mental Health of MI Youth
We are a parent-led, grassroots group working on behalf of youth in need of complex mental health support and services in Michigan. Our goal is to improve the mental health system for children and adolescents who need the highest level of support.
We come together to share our stories and foster positive change within a broken system.
Why We Are Here
- Our children are spending weeks in emergency rooms, tied to beds because there are not enough community inpatient beds available.
- Parents are often advised to legally abandon their children in those hospitals in order to force the State to find an available inpatient bed.
- There are no long term or specialized residential care beds available for children with Severe Emotional Disturbance in the state so children are sent home where they are unsafe.
- Families are unable to access the supports and services that could allow their children to stay at home safely.
- Insurance companies deny our claims as medically unnecessary despite federal parity laws that require insurers to treat mental health claims in uniformity with physical health claims.
- Medicaid SED waivers are difficult to access and qualify for, and Community Mental Health services are rarely available for those who do qualify.
- Schools don’t have legitimate training or policies to accommodate our children’s mental illness so they are suspended, expelled, and criminalized for their behaviors and truancy.
- Juvenile detention centers are filled with mental health patients because their symptoms (i.e. their behaviors) often become violent, destructive, or otherwise dangerous when they do not receive appropriate services and support.