Utica NY- Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week is a time to focus on the mental health of children. For 10 years, Center for Family Life & Recovery has offered children, youth, and young adults with mental or substance use disorders in the Mohawk Valley the services and supports they need to meet their goals at home, at school, and in the community.

COVID has impacted children both directly and indirectly. The CDC has reported that during the onset of COVID that Emergency Department mental health visits of children 18 years and younger during the months of Jan. 2020-Oct. 17,2020 showed an increase of 31% and children ages 12-17 had the highest proportion of Mental Health visits during this time. Beyond just thinking about the illness itself and getting sick so many children and families social, emotional, and mental health has been impacted by this pandemic. Many parents are seeing their children for the very first-time experiencing anxiety, sadness, and behavior changes.  Some of the change’s parents may be noticing with their child due to stress related to COVID may include but not limited to:

• Difficulty sleeping or having nightmares or sleeping too much.
• Changes in their energy level, appetite, motivation, and interests
• Difficulty staying focused, making decisions, concentration.
• Feelings of anger, frustration, fear, grief/loss, worrying.
• May be exhibiting headaches, body aches/pains, stomach issues, skin problems like rashes due to stress.
• Mental health or worsening of chronic health conditions.
• Exhibiting risky behaviors using alcohol, e-cigs, other substances
• Self-injurious behaviors or talking about not caring or self-isolation.

“Awareness Days are an opportunity for us to join with more than 1,100 communities across the country in celebrating the positive impact that we can have on the lives of children, youth, and young adults when we are able to integrate positive mental health into every environment,” said Cassandra Sheets, Chief Executive Officer. “When we focus on building resilience and social-emotional skills in children, youth, and young adults, we can help these individuals and their families thrive.”

Center for Family Life & Recovery focuses on prevention and Mental Health and be as proactive as we can for our children and families. Center for Family Life & Recovery prevention department works with our school districts and the focus is on proactive prevention and providing evidence-based programming that is geared around Mental Health. Our Prevention focus is on a tiered level of support as all children and families may have different levels of support and needs. We want to provide prevention to ALL children and their families, but we also know that we need to build more services around children and families that have unique and different situations. We offer many different prevention services and programs to work with our families by education, empowering, advocating with them, and working toward wellness as a family unit.

If you or your child is struggling with Mental Health you can call Center for Family Life & Recovery for help to help Navigate services with you. You are not alone! Center For family Life & Recovery is supporting Families and offering hope.

If in immediate crisis call 911.

• National Suicide Prevention: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for English, 1-888-628-9454 for Spanish
• National Domestic Violence 1-800-799-7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522
• National Child Abuse 1-800-4AChild (1-800-422-4453) or text 1-800-422-4453
• National Sexual Assault 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) o
• Veteran’s Crisis 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or Crisis or text: 8388255
• Disaster Distress CALL or TEXT 1-800-985-5990 (press 2 for Spanish).
• The Eldercare 1-800-677-1116 – TTY