Push on for more children’s health centers

By DANIELLE WOODWARD
Capital News Service
LANSING — The Department of Community Health is pushing for a program that would expand health centers for poor children to also treat mental illness. Department and child health center officials are pushing for a $2 million expansion of the program, which has been around for 25 years. This expansion would create new health centers that offer individual and family counseling, screening for mental disorders and prevention services for suicide and bullying, according to department officials. The centers would treat youth with disorders such as mild to moderate depression, high stress or anxiety, body issues and anger management. There are currently not many resources for those problems, said Carrie Tarry, manager for adolescent school health programs at the Michigan Department of Community Health.