Now the Work Begins on Youth Mental Health

The following column by Gulf Coast President/CEO Mark Pritchett originally appeared in the March 30 edition of SRQ Daily:

Untreated mental illness in children and young adults can devastate individuals and destroy their families. Its impact also extends throughout our community, costing us all dearly. A new study released Tuesday put that economic cost at $86 million a year here in Sarasota County. That’s a conservative estimate, too, according to the experts who quantified it. Plus it says nothing of the negative impacts that are impossible to value.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of South Florida and commissioned by Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. An “environmental scan” of mental health services for young people up to age 24 in our community, it aimed to identify current strengths and gaps and prioritize ways to make the system work more like, well, an actual system.

This research was about much more than pegging the financial price of untreated mental illness. It assessed existing services, detailed unmet needs, identified strengths to build on and documented barriers to improved mental well-being. It recommended benchmarks and indicators to better evaluate community services and measure success. Most importantly, it laid out strategic policy recommendations to systemically improve mental health care for Sarasota County youth.

Read the rest of Mark's column in SRQ Daily >>