Our relationship with Akron Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a great source of pride for our organization. We appreciate the variety of ways we have been able to collaborate with ACH – from supporting the Reach Out and Read program and introducing the Smucker’s Bistro to sponsoring the Doggie Brigade. This year we had an exciting opportunity to expand on this important relationship by supporting the Lois and John Orr Family Behavioral Health Center and its Scholarship program.

While every child’s path to adulthood is paved with confusing and often challenging experiences, those that today’s generation face are truly unprecedented. From the macro impacts of the pandemic, social justice and environmental issues to more personal experiences, mental health support is critical to help children grow with happiness and confidence.

The numbers reinforce this importance.  One in in five children ages 3 to 17 in the United States reported mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorders. And, especially concerning, last year emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts were higher year-over-year with the rates for adolescent girls up 51%.

ACH offers comprehensive behavioral health services including medication management, educational consultation and testing, psychological testing, individual therapy and family counseling. The need and volume of patients has grown each year, creating a resource strain and delaying this critical support.  

Recognizing this need, ACH has focused on augment staffing. Through the introduction of the Center and its scholarship program, ACH will be able to hire and train knowledgeable professionals to reduce the wait time for service, which currently averages nearly 60 days, and increase the number of children who can be treated. 

We are proud to fund scholarships to help four nurses at ACH get the training they need to become psychiatric-mental health nurses. Our contribution will support two registered nurses and two advanced practice registered nurses by covering the cost of their education and supplementing their salary as they work part time during the two-year program.