The Milwaukee Post

8 • Milwaukee County Post • May 23, 2014 Families of children with mental health needs deserve support To the editor: Parenting can be challenging at times. Parenting a child with mental health needs can be even more challenging, for a variety of reasons. Children with extraordinary needs require extraordi- nary parenting skills. Parents often find themselves being blamed for their chil- dren's issues. Having a child with chal- lenging behavior can often cause the family to isolate themselves to avoid problems in the community. In addition, resources to assist chil- dren with mental health needs and their families are often limited and difficult to find. In Wisconsin, over 100,000 school- age children have a substantial mental health issue that limits their ability to be successful at home, in school and in the community. Yet, only about 3 percent of these children receive the public mental health services that they need. You might be surprised to lear n that Wisconsin's public mental health service rate ranks 49th out of 50 states. Why should you care about this? Because helping families who have chil- dren with mental health challenges is not only the compassionate thing to do, it's the right thing to do for our commu- nities. Families who are supported in their community are better able to sup- port their children and meet their needs. This results in children experiencing greater success in school, having fewer problems with truancy and delinquency, and increases the likelihood of the child growing up to be a contributing, taxpay- ing member of the community. There is an organization in Wisconsin that is dedicated to helping families with children who have social, emotional or behavioral challenges – Wisconsin Family Ties. WFT is a statewide parent- run organization that provides the infor- mation, support and advocacy that fami- lies need to make real, lasting changes. Their services are free to families. In addition to direct work with fami- lies, Wisconsin Family Ties sponsors an annual Family Fun Day at Mount Olympus Water and Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells. This event is open to all families in Wisconsin who have children with emotional, behavioral or social challenges. Tickets are at a dramatically reduced rate and include lunch. WFT also hosts the annual Children Come First Conference. This conference is the region's largest children's mental health conference and features speakers and workshops that are of interest to parents and professionals alike. This year's con- ference will be held Nov. 10 and Nov. 11 at Glacier Canyon Lodge in Wisconsin Dells. For more infor mation about Wisconsin Family Ties or children's mental health, call 800-422-7145 or visit WFT's Facebook page, w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / w i s c o n s i n f a m i - lyties. Alison Wolf Southeastern regional coordinator Wisconsin Family Ties Madison Question of the week Should the Southridge Mall bus stop be moved back to its original spot? "I fully support efforts to have the Southridge bus pickup and dropoff at the building. I am refusing to shop at Southridge until the practice changes." – Nan Upright-Sexton Oak Creek *** "My mother is 82 years old and used to love tak- ing the bus to Southridge. She has tried to remain independent and do as much for herself as she can, while she can. My mom had surgery last summer and has been experiencing problems with her bal- ance and now uses a walker. Since the bus stop was changed, she has not been able to go to Southridge. My siblings and I feel terrible because it was one of the few weekly pleasures my mom had. Now my mom has to wait for one of us to take her shopping. We refuse to visit Southridge and take her to Bayshore instead. I'm sure there are many more senior citizen in the same situation that are forced to shop elsewhere. – Ana Kleppin Milwaukee *** "I would like the Southridge bus stop to be moved back to its original location." – Julie Alexander Wauwatosa *** "It should go back to the original spot that worked for years." – Lee Schulz Milwaukee *** "By all means, yes, the bus stop should be moved back to its original location. Moving the bus stop was the wrong move by Southridge. Under the excuse of moving the bus stop for safety reasons, what Southridge is really doing is not only insulting but putting people in danger. I'd like to see Mary Mokwa be forced to have to walk that journey into work every day." – Julie Withers Milwaukee *** "Almost every time I see most buses go by they are empty except for one or two people. This is throughout the city. We never heard the real rea- son for moving the stop, just a lot of coverage from a small group of activists.We were also never told how many actual disabled people this incon- venienced. But for the sake of a very few, the bus stop must be closer. P.S. How many of the readers know any of these inconvenienced bus riding dis- abled personally?" – Noah Borkenhagen Franklin *** "Wheel a mile on my wheelchair – then express your real feelings." – Steve French Mequon *** "I would like to have a vote for moving the bus stop at the Southridge area. We definitely service the people that require a little more help." – Robert Wisniewski Greendale *** "I believe the original bus stop should most defi- nitely be put back. I would like to know how they use the excuse of safety.They (the passengers) got on the sidewalk and went into the mall. I bet acci- dents were speeding cars.They seem to think they were in the Indy 500. Moving the bus stop, espe- cially No. 64, was pathetic and ill-advised. I think there's a little bit of politics mixed in here." – Marilyn Fedran Milwaukee *** "I feel that we have certain county supervisors who are desperately attempting to be relevant on social issues.They have neglected to run the men- tal health complex properly. They don't fill pot- holes properly on our streets, and they don't pro- vide properly for the county sheriffs. This is sim- ply a false issue they are creating." – Edward Sobczak Cudahy This week's question Does the city of Milwaukee need greater public safety, as Alderman Bob Donovan suggested this week? Editor's note: When responding to the Question of the Week, please include your full name with spelling, phone number and city where you live. Phone numbers will not be published. Anonymous responses are no longer accepted by the publication. Call 744-6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dbutler@conleynet.com. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters to: The Milwaukee Post, c/o Dwayne Butler, 3397 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207, or by e-mail to: dbutler@conleynet.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, length and clarity. Letters should be typewritten or printed and include full name, phone number and address. Please keep your letters to 400 words. Letters policy AVOID COSTLY PROBATE (and Confusing Trusts) Changes to Wisconsin law have now made it possible to leave your entire estate to your spouse without going through costly and time consuming probate. Your spouse can then, upon his/her death, leave everything to your children, again without probate. All this can be accom- plished without an expensive and confusing living trust. Please Call for a Free Simple Estate Planning Consultation Attorney James J. Winiarski 3625 W. 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