Status of Girls Report (Addendum) Content Approved October 5, 2017 Leadership at the Apalachee Center in Tallahassee spoke to us about the distinctive mental health challenges facing our community. Dr. Jay Reeve, the President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sue Conger, M.S.W., the Chief Operations Officer, said they serve around 600 clients under the age of 18 each year and during the last fiscal year, 269 were girls. Although the average stay at their inpatient facility is three days, most girls (200 out of 269) were referred to their outpatient services through their schools. Dr. Reeve emphasized the lack of school and child psychologists in our area, “Our presence in schools started because the schools gave us a call and said, ‘We need some behavioral health services.’ And that’s been true in all of the counties that we serve at one point or another. Usually it’s within the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) programs where they’re looking for more support than they were able to get from their ESE budgets.” Clinical staff at the center know that psychiatric illnesses for kids are much different than adults and begin to manifest at different ages depending on the illness. They also noted that giving antidepressants and antipsychotic medicines to kids have historically been something approached with caution. In their experience, girls receiving care at Apalachee Center are there for depression, anxiety, and ADHD/ADD and are often referred to them from their schools or the Department of Children and Families. If the child is in foster care or has experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in her/his home, sometimes children will remain at the center until they are placed in another home. They find that girls struggle most with depression, resulting in school avoidance due to experiences with cyberbullying through social media. These avoidance behaviors can lead to girls acting out at home and in school—a common reason for their referral in the first place. Courtney Atkins, the Executive Director of Whole Child Leon, echoes these concerns, especially with regard to the impact of behavioral health issues on development. She said comprehensive screening initiatives like the Florida Diagnostic & Learning Resources System and services provided by the Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend are crucial to “elevate the message to screen early and often.” Also, increasing the behavioral health services for children and their parents can strengthen familial relationships, and can create important connections between families and the community. Social support is the greatest protective factor for physical and mental health, something discussed regularly in our community conversations with girls. Insights from Girls on Expectations and Social Support “[There is an] unspoken rule that girls have to start wearing makeup at a certain age. There was a video of a girl who wore tons of makeup and then took it off to show people what she looked like without makeup. People called her names (like ugly) when it was off, but then call her fake for wearing makeup.” - Girl from the School of Arts and Sciences “I do believe in a dress code, but I don't like to just wear skirts, pants, and dresses. Students should be able to wear anything they want as long as it covers body parts. Let people be comfortable in their own way. In general, there are some things girls can't wear; you could be seen as ‘slutty.’ And the attitude toward females--they can't say and do certain things. Labels that are applied, like ‘PACE Girls’ may be seen negatively. Sometimes a label sticks with you your whole life.” - Girl from PACE Center for Girls, Leon “I wanna be a boy because women are the weaker sex and I don’t like being that. Women are most likely to get taken advantage of.” - Girl from Oak Ridge Elementary Student, Oasis Girls Circle Group
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