After church tonight, and dinner provided by Boston Market, I started sifting through the paper to look at all the flyers for those last-minute gift ideas. Instead, I was immediately drawn to the front page of the Kansas City Star. The top headline shouted the disturbing news of a man who said he was “tired of being picked on” and “fixed” his problem by shooting his long-time girlfriend and 4 of their kids. One child is in grave condition—the others died. Right below that headline was the second big story, Mending Marcus. And it was all about mentally ill children. Imagine that!


Marcus is a five-year old boy, the first of three children born to his 23-year-old, once again pregnant mom. Mom’s pregnancy with this boy was fraught with problems and culminated in his birth 6 weeks premature. He almost died. He has been a “challenge” from the very beginning. The reporter who wrote the story (I’ve already emailed him!) really, really nailed it when he stated:

The worst are the 4 million children severely emotionally disturbed like Marcus. These children fail in school, hurt others, hurt and even kill themselves. They go to juvenile detention, to therapists, to caseworkers. They are deeply medicated, hospitalized and placed in residential treatment centers for days to months to years, always shadowed by a question:

Can they be saved?

What’s known about childhood mental illness is only outpaced by what is unknown, including its exact cause — a daunting interplay between genetics, personality traits, brain chemistry, outlook, experience, culture, parenting, traumas.

I really encourage you to read the entire article… but in case you don’t, I’ll tell you that Marcus is heading off to Level 6 residential placement. This is the first in a series, so I will keep you updated… but I am excited that mental health issues in children is getting this much press in the Kansas City area.

Photo Credit TAMMY LJUNGBLAD, Kansas City Star

More to come on this...