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Health & Fitness

It's Time to Speak Up for Kids

There has never been a more important time to make children's mental health a priority.

We all want to raise healthy, happy kids, but too many children will never reach their full potential because of untreated mental health issues.

That’s why we are participating in the Child Mind Institute’s Speak Up for Kids, a month-long national awareness campaign that takes place in May.

More than 15 million American children have a psychiatric or learning disorder. That’s more than the number of children who have leukemia, diabetes, and AIDS combined. Less then half of them will ever get help because of stigma, misunderstanding, and lack of access to good care. Kids who don’t get treatment are more at risk for academic failure, alcohol and substance abuse, bullying, conflict with their families and authorities, and unemployment.

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In the Child Mind Institute’s Speak Up for Kids, partner organizations are coming together to offer 15 webcast events to expose and address the barriers that stand in the way of effective mental health care for children and their families. You can tune in to hear leaders in the mental health field share their expertise and answer questions. You can invite friends to view with you and discuss the issues together after the presentation. And you can find many more resources on the Speak Up for Kids site, www.childmind.org/speakup

There has never been a more important time to make children’s mental health a priority. Join us for Speak Up for Kids 2013, as we start a national conversation that will lead to breaking down barriers to mental health care.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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