Dayton Children’s new center focuses on mental health

DAYTON, Ohio — Dayton Children’s Hospital announced that it’s bringing together eight existing programs together under one roof to help promote positive mental, emotional, behavioral and physical health in children. 

The new Center for Emotional Wellbeing helps children cope with life’s challenges, including poverty and food insecurity, unstable relationships, social media influence and lingering effects of the pandemic. The hospital said all of these factors and other stressors can increase the risk of mental health conditions.

“The programs go beyond the hospital’s walls to meet children where they are,” said Sue Fralick, director of the Center for Emotional Wellbeing at Dayton Children’s, in a press release. “The center’s 100-plus employees serve children and families wherever there’s a need—at home, in school and at local pediatrician offices. We provide support, education and skill-building early on to prevent crisis situations in the future that are more challenging and expensive to treat.”  

The programs within in the new Center for Emotional Wellbeing include:

• HealthySteps: Parenting and child development support for families of children ages 0 to 3 
• Mental Health First Aid and suicide prevention training: Available to community members and Dayton Children’s staff  
• On Our Sleeves: Provides tools to educate adults on childhood mental wellness to break the stigma around childhood mental health 
• Community health workers: Support for children and families to equip them with information and tools to address their mental and physical health outcomes
• School-based therapy: Therapists embedded in elementary through high schools, as well as after-school programs
• Student Resiliency Program: Student resiliency coordinators provide resiliency development for students and families impacted by trauma by working full-time at area schools
• Mental Health Resource Connection: Helps connect patients and families to mental health services  
• Youth and Family Resource Connection: Also helps connect students and families with local resources that promote social and mental wellness

“Helping children who struggle emotionally is critical,” said Fralick. “If we wait too long, symptoms of anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns may develop. They can become chronic, lasting weeks, months or even years.”