Mental Health Services Needed for Many Homeless Children
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iStock/Thinkstock(RALEIGH, N.C.) — Of the 2.5 million children in the U.S. who are homeless each year, about one in four have issues severe enough to require the services of mental health professionals.
So says Dr. Mary Haskett, a psychology professor at North Carolina State University, who headed a pilot study on the effects of homelessness on kids in Wake County.
Joined by a team from Community Action Targeting Children who are Homeless (CATCH), Haskett explained these youngsters are at risk from mental health problems because of constant exposure to poverty and violence as well as lack of proper health care.
After assessing the conditions of 328 homeless children in Wake County shelters, Haskett said that 25 percent of those between two months- and six-years-old required mental health services. That figure is at least double the general population.
Haskett and co-author Jenna Armstrong add that homeless children five- and six-years-old fared much worse in language and academic skills than kids from “normal” households.
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