As a person who has worked in early childhood mental health, there is a great need for more access and policies surrounding this topic. Not only in America, but in Utah specifically. Utah has one of the highest numbers of youths with unmet mental health needs, along with a high number of childhood mental health disorders.
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Children who do not receive services when they are experiencing mental health, trauma or behavioral concerns have been known to experience depression, alcoholism and drug abuse later in life.
I’m sure we can all agree that we do not want our children to be experiencing these kinds of issues later in life; that’s why it is imperative to support programs and policymakers that are working to make early childhood mental health and intervention more accessible.
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Programs such as Head Start, Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health, The Children’s Center Utah and others are crucial to providing the services so many families need. If children are able to gain better access to these services, they can improve their prognosis and change the long-term outcomes of their lives. In turn, this will lead to happier, healthier Utah families.
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Brooklyn R. Valdez
Murray, Utah