When you’re first seeking care for your child, how do you know what to ask for? During this episode, we are joined by someone who has navigated many challenging circumstances in her personal fight for youth mental health. Kristin Stark is a mother supporting her daughter, Cecilia, as she navigates a wide variety of needs. Speaking to her really helps us bring to life the reasons behind the lawsuit and the need for mental health support. Kristin shares some of the challenges and trauma she and her daughter faced before meeting an advocate who advised her to get a case worker. In this conversation, Kristin draws a contrast between the support she found in Denver versus Wisconsin, offering her hard-won insights into what needs to change in Colorado. Sharing honestly from her lived experience, she speaks about the complexities of her child’s mental health needs, from medication and living conditions to education and hospital care. Join us as we illustrate the model of care that Wisconsin creates for the rest of the State, and how we can begin to embody more of its approach to caring for our youth. Thanks for listening!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Introducing Kristin Stark and some background on the challenges her daughter faces.
- The biggest needs that her daughter faces, with a focus on crisis support.
- What first led her to seek a diagnosis and where she started this journey.
- Finally getting an autism diagnosis after receiving guidance from a public school.
- In-patient hospital stays and emergency visits leading up to this point.
- The story of a disappointing emergency room experience.
- How meeting an advocate changed the process for Kristin and Cecilia.
- Choosing the next steps for herself and her child after Cecilia went into residential care.
- What their lives are like now after obtaining housing and finding care for her child in the County Program.
- The combination of medication and living conditions that is necessary to support Cecilia.
- How the approach to supporting young people differs in Denver and Wisconsin.
- What the system should do: help you to identify what you need and link you up to those services.
- How Wisconsin acts as a model of care for the rest of the State.
- Connecting to other parents with similar experiences or stories.
- What Kristin wants people to know and do differently in Colorado.
- Why it is so important for supporting partners to work together.
- Closing insights from Kristin about what the State of Colorado can do differently.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
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