Chris Dodd: “I thank these families for sharing their personal experiences with me, and for following me to share their experiences…”

“I thank these families for sharing their personal experiences with me, and for following me to share their experiences publicly. More importantly, I commend their tenacity in facing the challenges they face each and every day in caring for their children. Their stories, along with the stories I have heard from other families in Connecticut and elsewhere in the country, have fueled my belief that child and adolescent mental health needs to be a top priority. Recognizing the fragmentation of the Nation's mental health delivery system, Surgeon General Satcher's report concluded that one fundamental way to meet the mental--health needs of children and adolescents is to ``. . . move towards a community-based mental health delivery system that balances health promotion, disease prevention, early detection, and universal access to care.'' The report further stated eight goals to ensure the resiliency of children and adolescents.…”