A Central Illinois mental health and substance abuse professional is excited about things happening in Central Illinois in the year ahead.
On the WHOW Morning Show Tuesday, Tony Kirkman, Executive Director of the Piatt County Mental Health Center, told Regional Radio there are a lot of good things happening in the year ahead in both Piatt County and DeWitt County.
Later this spring, the Piatt County Mental Health Center will help coordinate the Illinois Youth Survey for 2024. Kirkman reminds this is an every-other-year survey of youth on a variety of topics that are of interest to those in the mental health field.
According to Kirkman, there are some alarming trends and he is curious to see how they continue to play out in the year ahead. One is the continued impact of legalized marijuana on youth.
Kirkman also notes in the year ahead, as the stigma around getting treatment for mental health continues to wear away in society, it means more and more people are coming to places like the Piatt County Mental Health Center for treatment, and funding for those institutions are not adequate at all. He hopes that will be noticed and addressed in the year ahead.
