| Children & Youth At-Risk of Mental Health Problems |
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- Nationally, 32.3% of Americans had one or more serious mental health
disease during their lifetime.
- In the county there are estimated to be five to six hundred homeless
mentally ill individuals. This may be a conservative estimate. There is an
underlying problem with sex abuse in mentally disabled people. Nationally it is
estimated that up to 50% of the seriously mentally ill population also abuse drugs and
alcohol. Services are unavailable for non-English speaking populations who require
the structured day treatment environment. The majority of mentally ill children are
never diagnosed by parents, teachers, or doctors according to the study Conditions of
Children in California. Because poverty stresses play such a critical role in mental
health, it is important to state the obvious: mental health programs could decrease
if people get adequate housing, food and clothing.
- 1/3 to 1/2 of all mentally ill have dual diagnosis.
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