We've all thought about doing something like this - now's our chance!  Let's join forces to improve child mental health services in Connecticut.  Let's voice our support for the creation of Connecticut Child Mental Health Action Day 2010, a day on which children, families, educators, clinicians, and community leaders meet at our Legislature in Hartford, CT as a way of calling our elected officials to action.

Our nation's future depends on the health and wellbeing of its children. Today, 1 in 10 children struggles with mental illness severe enough to cause significant impairment in his or her daily life. Mental illness begins early in life and interferes with development and functioning. Despite the availability of effective treatment, there are long delays from the onset of mental illness to treatment - on average 8 to 10 years. Only about 50% of youth living with mental illness receives treatment. For a child, this means the loss of childhood and critical development years. There are many proven, cost-effective treatments for children and youth that can reduce the unnecessary and costly consequences of untreated mental illness. Mental health treatment works and investment in services is a critical investment in the future of our children and youth. Therefore, there is a need to allocate more energy and resources in an effort to bolster child mental health services in communities and in schools. To that end, we support the organization of Connecticut Child Mental Health Action Day 2010.