As many as 70,000 Kansas children under age 18 have emotional/behavioral problems, and many are reluctant to seek help or might not know where to turn for care.
The symptoms of mental illness can be difficult to detect — even when friends and family of someone who appears to be developing a mental illness can tell that something is amiss, they may not know how to intervene or direct the person to proper treatment — which means that all too often, those in need of mental health services do not get them until it is too late.