There’s a real good chance you know a child who is suffering from a mental illness.
“One in five Mississippi children suffer from a mental disorder,” said Dr. Terry Hight, COO of the Mississippi Children’s Home Services. “Yet less than 20% receive some type of treatment.” The problem, he said, is recognizing the signs and getting children the early treatment they need.
Hight is one of the many who showed up at a Mississippi Children’s Mental Health Summit in Jackson Thursday to raise awareness of the issue. “In some ways, this is the pay it forward. If we intervene today, we affect the next generation,” said Hight, stressing that today’s children are Mississippi’s future educators, doctors, nurses and business leaders