Four-year-old Aiden and his mother came to a Raleigh, N.C., Salvation Army Women & Children’s Shelter for the 30-day overnight program in October. They had no car and had shuttled between the homes of friends and family in Raleigh and Durham, N.C., but Aiden’s mother was determined to find the services her son needed.
Aiden, whose name is changed for his privacy, screamed and cried frequently, couldn’t focus and couldn’t sit still. He had language delays, couldn’t convey his needs and wants and couldn’t interact in age-appropriate ways.
Unfortunately, Aiden isn’t alone. A look inside the state’s homeless shelters quickly reveals a sobering fact — many residents are children. And a substantial number of those kids need mental health services they’re not getting.
Luckily for Aiden, a case manager for Community Action Targeting Children who are Homeless (CATCH) got involved, screening his developmental and social-emotional status. Aiden scored extremely low, completed additional testing and was diagnosed with autism. The case manager referred him to Child Find, an exceptional-needs children’s initiative, where he entered a half-day program.
[For more of this story, written by Whitney L.J. Howell, go to http://jjie.org/catching-emoti...ess-children/108462/]
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