ROANOKE, Va. – Family Service of the Roanoke Valley said it’s seeing an increase in young people who need mental health services.
“I would say that we’re seeing anywhere from ages three up to 17. Our typical child that comes in is around five to eight,” said Gray.
This news comes after a 10-year-old girl, Autumn Bushman, took her own life last month. Her family said she was bullied.
The Berglund Center and Autumn’s family are hosting a Celebration of Life on Sunday, April 13, at 3 p.m. The Celebration of Life is a day to not only remember Autumn but to shine a light on mental health in the community.
Family Service of Roanoke Valley said in February that it served 194 clients.
There are currently 50 children and teens on the waitlist, which is about 75 days.
“Sometimes our waitlist like ebbs and flows a little bit, but for the most part, it’s pretty consistent that we have higher referrals for children,” said Clinical Director Mandi Gray.
10 News spoke with Gray about what to do in the meantime while your child is waiting to get help.
“In the meantime, we talk to the families about trying to get the children involved in some type of activity such as, you know, maybe sports or yoga, having family time together,” said Gray.
Gray said there is a group class that parents can take for ten weeks where they can learn how to better communicate with their children.
“Also, since the wait list is so much lower for the parents, we suggest that if they need any help, go ahead and get them in, and so they can start working on ways that they can help their children before we can actually get the children in,” said Gray.
Gray said some of the trends they are seeing with young people are concerns over the political climate and cyberbullying.
“Keep track of their passwords on their technology, know what they’re doing, put those parental controls on. In addition, I found that lots of kids have more than one piece of technology that they can use to access these websites. So just because it’s not on the phone that the parent might supply to them doesn’t mean that the child might have something else or private accounts. So really know what your kids are involved in,” said Gray.
Gray said bullying is a problem in schools.
“You know, children don’t feel safe in their schools anymore because of being bullied,” said Gray.
Gray also suggested only letting your kids use technology in common areas like the living room or kitchen.
She said communication is key, too.
“Have open-ended questions like, ‘What was the best thing that happened today? Was there anything that was worrisome today?‘” said Gray.
Another message Gray has for parents is to watch their kids’ behavior.
“Signs would be like suddenly wanting to isolate themselves, wanting to be in another group of friends, changing their likes and dislikes. Whether they’re social with the family, whether they’re isolating, things like that,” said Gray.
Gray said she provides play therapy, individual therapy and even therapy for both kids and parents.
While Gray works primarily with children, Family Service of Roanoke Valley is seeing more younger adults who are 18 years old to 25 years old.
“There are so many problems in Roanoke, you know, homelessness, drug use, unemployment. So, there’s lots of things going on that’s affecting our young adults,” said Gray. Family Service of Roanoke Valley said there are 23 adults on the waitlist, and the waitlist is about 23 days.
Gray said one of the services while adults are on the waitlist is Family Support Services, where the group has certified peer support specialists.
“The peer specialist has lived experience with either substance abuse or mental health or even both. And so sometimes we have families who the parents might have struggled with substances in the past or currently struggling, or they have a sense of mental health issues themselves. And so this is another resource for them that helps take care of some tangible goals, such as maybe housing, food resources, getting on Medicaid, things like that,” said Gray.
