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Freeholders Recognize National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day
Freeholders Recognize National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day
[Newton, NJ] The Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders issued a Proclamation at their May 7, 2013 meeting recognizing May 9, 2013 as National Children's Mental Health Day. Accepting the Proclamation from Freeholder Gail Phoebus on behalf of the Family Support Organization was Shauna Gregory, Family Support Coordinator. The Proclamation acknowledged that the stigma often associated with mental illness should no longer exist, and that children and youth with mental health needs can thrive when they have the proper support and services.
Displayed throughout the Freeholder Meeting Room were drawings and tiles painted by children and youth receiving services from both the Family Support Organization and Caring Partners of Morris/Sussex, Inc.
These agencies are part of the Sussex County Youth Services Commission and its Education Partnership sub-committee, which operates under the auspices of the Sussex County Department of Human Services through the Division of Community and Youth Services.
This project began as a response to the Newtown tragedy and how the community can change the way it views mental health and mental illness. The project has a simple message: you do not have to have a mental illness to have mental health. The purpose of this activity was to use a creative approach to help discover the children's strengths and to express what mental health means to them. The artwork will be displayed in the Sussex County Administrative Center through the month of May.