SAMARITAN COUNSELING SERVICES OF THE GULF COAST INC
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Mission Statement
MISSION STATEMENT: To provide excellent professional spiritually integrated counseling services.
About This Cause
Fulfilling our vision of Instilling Hope and Transforming Lives for those in need in our local community is made possible only through the generous support of donors and friends of Samaritan Counseling, as many of our clients are either uninsured or under-insured and unable to pay the full cost of the counseling services they so desperately need to lead healthy productive lives. Samaritan Counseling helps all age groups, from children to seniors and from all walks of life. We accept insurance from major providers and work on a sliding scale for clients unable to afford full fee services. Counseling is available for anxiety and depression, grief and bereavement, premarital counseling, family therapy, separation or divorce, children’s problems, blended family challenges, stress and anger management, chronic or terminal illness, religious and spiritual concerns, alcohol addiction and substance abuse. We are fully accredited through Solihten Institute, meeting all 37 standards benchmarked to national requirements, and HIPPA compliant for both outpatient counseling in our area offices as well as video-based therapy through our telehealth service. We counsel individuals, couples, families and groups as they do the hard work necessary to meet their therapeutic goals. The number of those reaching out to us is steadily increasing as the community becomes more aware of Samaritan Counseling’s strong reputation for professional, quality work helping all of our clients achieve their mental health goals. In 2018, we saw the highest number of clients in our history, providing 6638 counseling sessions while covering, on average, 35% of total session costs for those in need through our Client Assistance Fund (CAF). Through April 2019 our number of counseling sessions has increased 30% over last year. At this rate, we are on track to help as many as 8000 clients this year, which still only addresses a fraction of the need in the local area. We would like to help even more individuals; however, it’s necessary for sustainability of the organization to balance the need in our community with financial resources available to us. The population of Sarasota and Manatee Counties is 820,000. At any given time, 20% (164,000 people) in our community will struggle with a mental health crisis. On average, females represent 70% of our client base and children and adolescents represent 16%. Single parent households have almost doubled in the past 50 years. According to the US Census Bureau, as reported by https://singlemotherguide.com/single-mother-statistics/, in 2018, 81% of single parent families in the US with children under the age of 18 were headed by a female. These families are often among the poorest households. The poverty rate for single-mother families in 2017 was 34%, nearly five times more than the rate for married-couple families. One third of single mothers were “food insecure” with 13% using food pantries. Many of these single mothers who struggle day to day to provide for their children have limited or no health insurance, and those that do often cannot afford the high deductibles and co-pays required by private insurance companies. Current mental health statistics in the State of Florida are staggering. Mental Health America www.mentalhealthamerica.net provides annual reports at the state level. Results for Florida in “The State of Mental Health in America 2018” show the following: • 529,000 adults have had serious thoughts of suicide. • 1,559,000 adults with mental illness did not receive care. • 166,000 youth reported at least one major depressive episode this past year. • 66.8% of adolescents with mental illness did not receive mental health services. Providing professional, therapeutic counseling for those in need at a young age is vitally important for the long-term health and well-being of not only the child, but for the family, the school system and the community as a whole. “Many stakeholders argued that the most worrisome impact of unmet needs is on the quality of life of the child or young adult who experiences mental illness. This may include low educational achievement, lack of future job skills, loss of opportunity for positive development, negative impact on current and future relationships, and in worse case scenarios, suicide. Respondents saw many ways that families were impacted by the stress and frustration of unsuccessful attempts to help children find treatment. Many respondents noted that families may socially withdraw and some may eventually give up after multiple failed efforts to get effective help. One respondent noted that it can be especially devastating for families when a child has their first psychotic break because it may signify that a long-term or life-long struggle is ahead.” The recent rise in school shootings has brought a heightened awareness regarding the importance of mental health. While the State has taken positive steps to provide funding for in-school counseling services, these services are not provided in all schools and those that do offer services must often share counselors between multiple schools. This leaves much day to day vulnerability for teachers and administrators who are often on the front line in identifying youth mental health issues. There is much more that can be done for these children and adolescents in need with additional support outside of the schools such as individual professional outpatient services provided by Samaritan Counseling. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the results of a survey on June 14, 2018 titled “2017 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey”. Results showed that one in three adolescents questioned said they had persistent feelings of being sad or hopelessness. “In the areas that are under their control teens are making better decisions, but the things that are happening to them, both in terms of violence victimization and the mental health and suicide implications are really concerning”, stated Kathleen Ethier, the director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health. “The fact that one third of our high school students are feeling persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness is incredibly concerning.” In addition, a report by FaithIt shared these alarming national statistics: • 1 in 5 children has mental health problems • 43% increase in ADHD • 37 % increase in teen depression • 100% increase in suicide rate in kids 10 to 14 years old While counseling youth in need of mental health services is an important part of the work we do at Samaritan Counseling, we realize that it’s not only the children that need help to cope with life’s challenges, but often the primary caregiver as well, often a single mother. One of our counselors reviewed a case with us just this past week during the clinical review section of our weekly staff meeting. He is working with a child with behavioral issues at school. The single mother just found out that she has breast cancer and would like our counselor to work with her as well. She faces a daunting prognosis and wants to prepare not only her son for an uncertain future, but also herself, as she needs guidance to cope with this additional new terrifying obstacle in her life. Unfortunately, the mother could not afford sessions for both herself and her son, so for now, she sacrifices her own needs for the sake of her child’s therapy. This counselor noted that he currently has five cases where he is working with a child and would like to be able to help either a sibling or parent as well. It has become a common theme. While on a daily basis we provide subsidized counseling sessions for children and adults experiencing various levels of trauma, we find that the requests for services, particularly from single mothers whose child or often multiple children are uninsured or underinsured is growing at a pace that is beyond our current level of funding. Having to turn children and youth away is heartbreaking for us and results in despair and hopelessness for these children and their mothers. Together we can make a difference in the lives of so many.