Sofia has spent hours waiting in an emergency room while experiencing a mental health crisis, before being transported to an out-of-town psychiatric hospital.
The availability of a local crisis center for youth would have made a big difference for Sofia and many others who have had to leave the community because of the lack of youth-focused crisis services.
“A local youth recovery center, that would have been so much better,” Sofia said. “It would be nice to have a place closer to home.”
Sofia’s mother, Annas agrees. Annas is the Director of Youth Community Services for the Bert Nash Center.
“When Sofia was languishing at the ER, it felt really isolating,” Annas said. “They were there and not hurting themself, but not really getting any help. The ER is not designed for that. It would be so much better to have a place that is designed for young people where they can start getting better more quickly.”
The Bert Nash Center plans to build a Youth Recovery Center (YRC) for youth ages 6-17. The projected opening for the YRC is 2027. The facility will be located at 3500 Clinton Place.
For Sofia, it felt like they had been abandoned, Annas said.
“You don’t know how long you will be there,” Annas said “You don’t know what’s coming next. I’m not finger pointing and it’s no one’s fault, but sometimes the system isn’t working.”
That’s why the development of the Youth Recovery Center is an essential resource to help youth who are in crisis and struggling to be able to get help here in Douglas County. The YRC will fill the gap in emergency care infrastructure specifically for children and families within the crisis continuum, so families no longer have to wait, travel long distances, or be turned away, ensuring their child receives the care they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives.
The first time Sofia went to the emergency room was in 2021. They went to the ER again in 2022.
“We were there for almost two days,” Annas said. “Sofia was unraveling. It was awful to watch.”
Sofia was transported to an out-of-town facility without even having the chance to say goodbye to their parents.
“The Youth Recovery Center would have been ideal because it would be here and we wouldn’t have had to drive out of town every day,” Annas said. “There also would have been useful interventions and useful programming instead of just watching TV and movies.”
It was during middle school in 2017 when Sofia first experienced a mental health crisis and started therapy. They experienced another one in the spring of 2021, during the pandemic and a third in the fall of 2022. The last two times they went to the ER and were later transported to an out-of-town psychiatric hospital for a few days.
Sofia was in the fourth grade when they came out as a lesbian. Their family was accepting but some of their peers weren’t.
“I knew I was gay for as long as I can remember,” Sofia said. “I grew up in such an accepting household that I thought this was normal. But when I would tell kids at school, they would be like, that’s not normal. I didn’t have any backlash from my family. The only homophobia I faced was from my peers.”
Annas learned later that Sofia had a “friend” who told them they couldn’t be gay and that they should kill themselves.
“Sofia told me later that it made them feel like they wanted to die but they didn’t want to tell me because they didn’t want me to worry about it,” Annas said.
After being released from a psychiatric hospital the second time, Sofia focused on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which included group and individual therapy.
“DBT was super helpful,” Sofia said. “The workbook they gave us is still super helpful to have as a resource.”
There’s a parent DBT group, too, in which both of Sofia’s parents participated. in.
“There was a lot of good information,” Annas said. “And I think it meant a lot to Sofia that we did that.”
Sofia started playing the violin when they were 2 and it is
still an important part of their life.
“I got started playing because of my grandma, I don't even remember starting,” Sofia said. “Playing music definitely helps with my mental health. It lets me focus completely on something that is unaffected by whatever is going on in my life or the world.”
Sofia is in a really good place now. They are in their second year at the University of Kansas, majoring in psychology and music, and they have a wonderful group of friends who are accepting and supportive.
“I’m doing much better now,” Sofia said.
“Sofia is flourishing,” Annas said. “They have never been better.”