Detroit – An important first step in addressing the mental health needs of black boys in the community is to take what they have to say seriously, according to a town hall speech Saturday at the Focus: HOPE Conference Center.
Tristan Stallworth, 18, a member of the Children’s Center’s Youth Advisory Board, said: “By grown adults who don’t know what we’re talking about. “This is something we really just want you guys to listen to us and understand and help us in this way.”
Young people don’t feel heard or listened to, said George Wynn, director of The Children’s Center, a Detroit-based organization that provides behavioral health services to children.
“So if we give them a voice to talk about what’s working in the system, what’s not working in the system, we can start to develop supports and systems that really meet their needs.”
Winn said the Children’s Center decided to start by focusing on black boys because data shows they are in crisis.
Black youth in the United States have a higher risk of suicide, depression, and other mental health problems, but are less likely to seek treatment than other demographics. according to the American Psychiatric Association.
A panel of mental health experts, community leaders and community members, including youth and parents, discussed ways to change the life trajectories of black boys in Detroit and Wayne County.
“Our goal is to make Detroit the greatest city in the U.S. for raising black boys,” said Kelvin Brown, recruiter for the Adult Self-Support Program at the Children’s Center. “We want society to see the full image and potential of black boys.”
Many adults don’t understand mental health or it takes time to overcome mental health issues, said Nehemiah Coles, a member of the Children’s Center’s youth advisory board.
“They don’t understand that this is not something that I’m going through. This is something that you go through over time and talk about your feelings with people that you really care about,” Coles said. “Just taking your child to therapy is not the only thing that will help you.”
Stallworth, a Mumford High School senior in Detroit, said young people experiencing mental health issues often feel unheard and ignored by adults and parents. One of the biggest obstacles young people face is adults who think they don’t know what to talk about, Stallworth said.
“A lot of adults have old ideas about mental health. … We have a lot of old ideas about mental health, like eat it. Be a man. You’re strong, you’re an adult, you can take it.” said “We don’t have to look at it that way anymore.”
Kevin Fisher, executive director of the National Mental Health Alliance – Michigan, said mental health is not talked about enough in black communities.
“Mental illness doesn’t discriminate, but it doesn’t have a stigma either,” Fisher said. “The stigma associated with mental illness varies by society and culture. … We need to work on the stigma from within. We need to stop denying ourselves a higher quality of life.”
Clinicians treating children must address all the social determinants of health and understand trauma, said Deborah Matthews, president and CEO of Children’s Center.
“They have to figure out how to reach out to the client (or) the family that’s out there,” Matthews said. “They have to first identify and assume that instead of this kid walking into them with some mistake, they’re going to come to a place where something happened.”
Before panelist Alyssa Heard’s 16-year-old son was diagnosed with ADHD, she didn’t know it was a real thing. She’s more concerned about what will happen when she’s an adult, because mental health resources and support for adults are more limited than what’s available for teenagers.
Hurd said: “What I want to see is a re-connection for our young people who are moving overseas… Just because they’re 18 and 19 doesn’t necessarily mean they’re adults and can do everything. take it yourself”. . “I want to see more investment in mental health that prioritizes black boys and families.”
Heather Boone is a pastor in Monroe and helps run a homeless shelter called Oaks Village. Boone attended the town hall and said many young people entering adulthood end up in homeless shelters and feel lost. He asked the participants for advice on how to help these young people.
“When kids get older, then when they get out of the system … that’s something we see more and more at our homeless shelter,” Boone said. “What happens is those young people say, ‘Man, I’m not going to the doctor anymore.’ And there’s nothing those parents can do.”
Matthews said the stigma associated with taking medication for mental illness in the black community needs to be addressed.
“You know, it’s not necessarily bad to take medicine to meet your needs,” Matthews said. “You’re just trying to drug my kid,” I hear parents say all the time. … Sometimes drugs are needed.”
LaTricia Mitchell, a clinical social work student at Wayne State University, attended the town hall and said the language used to talk to and about children needs to change.
“We’re talking about their behavior, not what they’ve been through, and it’s important to ask these people, to ask our young people, to ask our children, what is life like for you?” Mitchell said. “(Black kids) see themselves as a problem because the world talks to them as if they have a problem.”
In the past, the church has perpetuated the stigma associated with mental health, said Antoine Jackson, a panelist and youth pastor at the Greater Mitchell Temple COGIC. Jackson said the church needs to deal with the damage it has done and work to become a resource center that families can use.
“The church needs to step up, and I need to be very specific here, the black church needs to step up and answer for the damage it’s done, and then let’s fix it the right way,” Jackson said.
Partnerships between community organizations are also important in addressing the mental health crisis. Focus: HOPE, a Detroit-based organization dedicated to fighting racism, poverty and injustice, has partnered with The Children’s Center to help families and children access therapists and other mental health services.
“We’re not mental health professionals at all,” said Waymond Hayes, panelist and director of early childhood at Focus: Hope. “It’s really important for organizations to look at what their strengths are and what the other partner is that is stronger.”
Fisher said action can also be taken at the state level. He urged those in attendance from the town hall to reach out to their state legislators and ask them to fund a statewide crisis intervention team coordinator office. Detroit-Wayne Integrated Health Network has already partnered with law enforcement agencies across the country to train officers with crisis intervention training, Fisher said.
“We don’t want law enforcement to see any behavioral health crisis unless there is imminent danger,” Fisher said. “We need funding to support the CIT coordinators in the state to make sure we have one in every community.”
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