Family speaks about program to help children with mental, emotional or behavioral health
FORT MILL, S.C. (WBTV) - Parents can now learn new ways to collaborate with their children when it comes to their mental and behavioral health.Youth Villages is a national nonprofit that works with families in our area to find solutions and support for a long-term change.Leaders in the Carolinas say they work with families more closely during the holidays.One in five children between the ages of 3 and 17 has been diagnosed with a mental, emotional or behavioral health condition, according to the CDC.Youth Villages works with families across the Carolinas to create new skills and connections.16-year-old Kelis Clinton started working with a Youth Villages specialist over the summer. She says, “Safe, it feels safe.”The organization’s leaders explain that in South Carolina, their clients are identified through the Department of Social Services. Clinton’s mom, Kurestin White, says she noticed her daughter struggling with the loss of her big sister.“Around this time is when you know her sister passed away and it was depression, anxiety, and everything,” says White.Since working with specialist Iesha Faulkner, White says she’s seen her daughter learn new coping skills and open up more.She says, “I know I cry. You know, but I cry in private and she just bust out and you know it bothers me, but I have to be strong for them you know.”Faulkner says when she was in high school, she was connected with a social worker who helped her navigate being a teen mom. She says it motivated her to make helping other young people her career.Faulkner says, “Sometimes young adults feel like they just have to give up and they don’t know a way out and I knew I had to be a person that helped them see the change.”Youth Villages’ Intercept program helps families in their own homes. It works to keep children out of out-of-home placements or reunify children who have been placed in the system. Its South Carolina state manager, Drew Laurens, explains how important being in their own environment is to children’s development and health.Laurens says, “Whether it’s educationally, staying out of the prison system or anything — if they have grown up in the community, in the household or the natural environment they’ve been in."White says she sees the bond her daughter has built with Faulkner and believes it will continue to help her grow as a young adult.She says, “It’s hard to gain trust, you know. So, she came right in and gained her trust and they had conversations that I don’t probably know about, you know, and that’s okay with me because at least she’s telling somebody.”Faulkner says, “It’s not how the story begins, it’s up to you to how you choose to finish it.”Copyright 2025 WBTV. All rights reserved.
