Louisiana DHH - Office of Behavioral Health
Copyright © 2007 - 2023 Louisiana Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health (LAFFCMH). All rights reserved.
Every child's mental health is important. Mental health problems are very treatable. Caring families, schools and communities working together can help. Get Involved
* Many children and adolescents with serious emotional and behavioral challenges go untreated.
* Parents may not identify the symptoms their children display as an emotional challenge because of stigma.
* Stigma may also prevent parents and children from seeking mental health care.
* Suicide is one tragic consequence of not seeking treatment. Culturally and linguistically competent mental health care must be a priority for transforming the mental health system.
* A number of barriers prevent parents and youth from racial and ethnic minority populations from seeking services.
* These barriers include such things as mistrust and fear of treatment, different cultural ideas about illnesses and health, differences in help-seeking behaviors, language, and communication patterns, racism, varying rates of being uninsured and discrimination by individuals and institutions.
* Individuals living in rural areas have inadequate access to care, limited availability of skilled care providers, lower family incomes, and greater social stigma for seeking mental health treatment than their urban counterparts.
* Too often, policies and practices are developed for metropolitan areas and applied to rural areas without much success.
* This is similar to the Children's System of Care value of cultural and linguistic competence.
About us |
Board of directors |
Contact us |
About children who need help |
Children mental health facts |
A dream for louisiana children |
Literature |