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stouffville suntribune thursday oct 27 2005 7 mentally ill children wait for help by chris traber staff writer they are innocent yet condemned numbed by depression or locked in end less emotional upheaval one in five is a victim one in 10 ponders suicide as their escape they forfeit childhood and jeopardize adulthood as the sickness grows help diminishes they stand before us invisible there are 43000 of them in york region they are children with mental illness of the regions legion of children 18 and younger vith- mental health issues help exists for only 5000 and average wait times to access iatnent are seven times longer than waiting for an mri or ct scan reports york region parents for childrens mental health the local chapter of a nonprofit par entrun organization york pr of canadas fastest growing and most affluent regions has the sec ond lowest funding in ontario for childrens mental health services said susan hess the organizations provincial president no one thinks children can have mental illness ms hess said noting the province has made no new investment in childrens mental health in the past 12 years a large number of the agencies are running poor some have had to cut pro grams and let staff go mental illness is the orphaned area of understanding and chil drens mental health is the orphans orphan the problems with sup port infrastructure are as complex and ranging as the illness ms hess said and many of these children pur posely go undiagnosed because of the massive soci etal stigma attached to men tal illness along with the stigma parents shoulder the blame and shame she said its the only illness where par ents are automatically blamed not unlike ms hess whose now adult daughter was suicidal at age five newmarkets anny chow is acutely aware of the wait and worry associated with a childs mental health prob lems her son nicholas was diagnosed at age five with tourettes syndrome a disor der affecting communica tion skills thought processes and the ability to control emotions at eight doctors diag nosed aspergers a form of autism while waiting more than seven years for treatment ms chow has witnessed her the attending physician regrettably discharged him after merely one day of observation because his behaviour was deemed to be detrimental to other patients around him anny chow mother son struggle at school and in the community she endured untold heartache and fear nicholas was returned home by police after being caught venting his anger in the community he threat ened his mother with a butcher knife saying hed be happier if she were dead he ran away leaving a note goodbye and sorry police had to search for him with a helicopter he was eventually admitted to a scarborough hospital the attending physician regrettably discharged him after merely one day of observation because his behaviour was deemed to be detrimental to other patients around him ms chow said how can we as parents not be broken hearted how can nicholas not be angry eighteen months ago nicholas was enrolled in day treatment at the york centre for children youth and families one of three york agencies along with blue hills child and family centre and kinark child and family servic es helping chil dren with mental issues with treaiment and the assistance of a fulltime child youth worker nicholas is attending high school hes doing fine ms chow said theres no cure hopefully with medication control and maturity he can step out of it plights of families such as the chows are heard on a daily basis by york centre executive director paul meadows with 32 employees work ing with 500 children in a small centuryold richmond hill school mr meadows is hobbled by a woefully inade quate annual budget of 19 million from the ministry of children and youth services the united way private donations and fundraising efforts in the last 12 years our base budget has dropped 12 per cent he said were a fast growing community one in five chil dren has a diagnosable men tal illness were called the mules of the system because kids are dropped on our back but its grinding to a halt poniet yqur preaaas quitting saves more than your life calculate how at cancerca smokershelpune canadian canccft soitv 1 877 5135333 tks message brought to you as a communfy service of tie economy ssavsufrtiixre village 4600 hwy 7 markham 905 4773337 wwwvillagenissancom