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The Village Dispatch: CMHRC's May 2026 Newsletter |
Wednesday Webinar: Family Focused Therapy with Dr. David Miklowitz |
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Dear ::subscriber.first_name::,
Imagine being 10 years old and spending your days consumed by terror, rage, and exhaustion that no one around you can explain, not your teachers, not your doctors, and not even your parents. Now, imagine that it takes another decade before anyone figures out how to help. |
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That is the reality for far too many children in America today. The average treatment delay for childhood-onset mental illness is 10 years. Ten years of missed milestones. Ten years of a childhood that slips quietly away.
At Children's Mental Health Resource Center, we believe that is 10 years too long, and this Children's Mental Health Awareness Month, we are asking you to help us close that gap, one child, one family, one breakthrough at a time. |
What Early Intervention Really Looks Like |
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When a child with a mood disorder receives an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment early, the difference is nothing short of life-changing. Research consistently shows that early intervention reduces the severity and duration of mood episodes, improves long-term outcomes, lowers the risk of hospitalization, and dramatically increases a child's ability to participate in the everyday moments that make up a childhood.
For families in the CMHRC community, those moments are not abstract statistics. They are deeply personal victories.
One CMHRC mom described her son's journey this way: "After years of nightmares, sleeplessness, and relentless anxiety, connecting with CMHRC changed everything." A few years later, her 15-year-old, who once couldn't spend a single night away from home, completed a four-day wilderness canoe trip with his classmates. He packed his own bag, managed his medications, and came home proud.
Another parent, Leah, watched her daughter Jessica struggle for years with depression and anxiety so severe that ordinary high school milestones felt out of reach. This past spring, Jessica went to two proms.
These are not small accomplishments. These are the stories of children reclaiming their lives. This happens because someone intervened early, effectively, and with the right support.
That someone, for so many of families, is CMHRC, and all of this is possible because of you. |
Join Us This May |
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Children's Mental Health Awareness Month is a time to celebrate the hard-won victories of kids who fight every single day, and to recommit to making sure no child has to fight alone, or wait 10 years for help that should have come far sooner. |
Your Gift At Work: One Time Giving |
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$50: The First Step Forward A gift of $50 helps fund CMHRC's free educational webinars and community drop-in sessions that give isolated families their first foothold. Your $50 helps keep that door open.
$100: A Family Finds Their Footing A gift of $100 supports access to CMHRC's Toolkit. the symptom and medication tracking system that helps families bring organized, clinically useful data to their child's care team. Shorter diagnostic timelines start with better information. Your $100 helps a family speak the language their doctor needs to hear.
$250: A Child's Story Changes A gift of $250 helps fund CMHRC's Wayfinder program, a level of support that helps a family not just survive the system, but navigate it effectively to get their child the classroom accommodations, the right specialist, and the community they need to move forward. Your $250 can be the turning point in a child's story. |
Make It A Year-Long Gift: Monthly Giving in 2026 |
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One of the most powerful things you can do for children's mental health is to make your support consistent and sustained. A monthly gift means CMHRC can plan, staff, and scale our programs with confidence so we are there for the next family who finds us in crisis, and the one after that.
$26/month: "A Dollar for Every Day of Hope" Just $26 per month, one dollar for each day of 2026, sustains CMHRC's free community programming throughout the year. Drop-in sessions, webinars, and the resource library that families lean on at 2 a.m. when they don't know where else to turn. Your steady, year-round presence makes ours possible.
$50/month: Champion of Early Identification At $50 per month, your giving supports CMHRC's outreach to mental health professionals and school-based advocates — the clinical seminars and continuing education that train providers to recognize childhood bipolar and FOH before years of misdiagnosis can pile up. You become part of the reason the next generation of clinicians knows what to look for.
$100/month: A Childhood Restored At $100 per month, you are helping fund the full spectrum of CMHRC's family-facing programs, from Palliative Parenting™ to Wayfinder to our ketogenic therapy programs providing access to new frontiers in treatment. At this level, your giving doesn't just open doors for one family, it helps CMHRC build and maintain the infrastructure that keeps all these doors open, all year long. |
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Together, we will rewrite the story for children facing mental illness. Together, we will give childhood back.
With deep gratitude,
Jana Cupp Director of Development, Children's Mental Health Resource Center jana@cmhrc.org | 949-336-2941 |
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Struggling to support your child’s mental health? Join CMHRC's Executive Director, Elizabeth Errico, in conversation with Family Focused Therapy creator David Miklowitz, PhD (UCLA). Discover how families become powerful partners in recovery, and learn practical ways you can reduce conflict, improve communication, strengthen family relationships, and support recovery together. |
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Join CMHRC staff and other professionals for two days of learning with some of our most requested sessions.
The 2-Day Childhood Bipolar Conference will help mental and physical healthcare providers understand how to recognize bipolar symptoms in childhood, how they differ from adult presentation, how to differentiate it from other common diagnoses, and get your questions answered live from the expert hosts. |
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Continuing education credits available! ASBW and NBCC
A participant who attended the conference last year stated, "Unbelievable info with amazing presenters!"
We hope you'll join us as we learn the science and lead the change. |
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Inside Out follows 11-year-old Riley as she navigates life changes, but the story unfolds inside her mind where five emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust) work to help her cope with change and loss.
Inside Out normalizes the full spectrum of emotions, and illustrates how emotional suppression can lead to disconnection.
Join us as we discuss this film and how it provides a language for what's happening inside. |
