Recent tragedies show parents need mental health resources

Experts say the recent rash of high profile child abuse and neglect cases point to a need for better mental health supports for parents.
A recent U.S Surgeon General report stated that 41% of parents say that on most days, they are so stressed that they cannot function.

If you Google “I want to walk away from my home and children” for a physical place to go, you won’t come up with much.

It’s a tragic thought that any parent could feel so desperate that they want to leave their children.

But one Pontiac mother did abandon her three children in a home where garbage piled up as high as four feet for four years, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. The devastation the children had to endure has raised questions about their mother, charged now with child abuse, and what might have led her to abandon three children in a home for four years. It’s unclear if she tried to seek help before allegedly walking away.

“When you Google, ‘Who do I call when I want to walk away from my house?’ You know, there’s not a lot of resources,” said Heather Martinez, chief executive officer of Boldli, a youth services organization based in Detroit. “There’s not an answer there.”

In these early months of 2025, numerous tragedies show a deepening crisis for the state’s children, who in recent headlines have been allegedly abused, neglected and murdered. Experts and data show the state and local social safety nets designed for helping struggling families — organizations and institutions such as schools, Children’s Protective Services and crisis teams — are strained.

But it’s not just services for children that are challenged. Experts say parents are in desperate need of mental health resources, too. Parents are struggling under the stress of raising kids in a modern world with more complex issues than ever −pressure so intense that the U.S. Surgeon General recently warned about higher levels of stress among parents.

To protect children, parents need help, too. Frank Vandervort, law professor with the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Michigan, said recent high-profile instances of neglect and abuse point to a long-ignored need for a stronger child welfare system, one that intervenes to help everyone involved.

In some cases where children have been hurt, “Those parents are quite culpable of their behavior,” he said. “Others are not so culpable because they have serious mental illnesses. They have serious other problems, and we don’t do anything about that.”

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Tragedies show gap in mental health system

According to the Surgeon General’s report, “41% of parents say that most days they are so stressed they cannot function and 48% say that most days their stress is completely overwhelming compared to other adults.”

The proportion of parents who reported coping well with the demands of being a parent decreased, too, and the report cites a number of stressors: The increasing price of childcare, the cost of necessities like food and health care, an increase in work hours and increased concerns about child health and safety.

Desiree Jennings, CEO of The Children’s Center, a Detroit-based organization that offers behavioral health and wraparound services to families, said policymakers can’t just think about how to support children, they should also think about how to support every member of a family who is in a cycle of abuse and neglect.

“By supporting families, the goal is to help break the cycle of neglect and give children the opportunities they need to thrive,” she said.

But that support is hard to come by, said Martinez. For instance, she said, Medicaid programs for low income adults and children typically cover only a set number of visits to a behavioral health professional such as a therapist. Adults in a crisis likely need more than some plans allow, though, including ongoing treatment and access to medication that won’t fall through.

“In six visits, you’re going to solve your whole life problems and be fine to walk away, right?” she said. “That’s not how mental health works. … It’s from children all the way to parents. … Parents being able to access that stuff too when they’re overwhelmed.”

Jennings and Martinez said their organizations try to bridge those gaps. At The Children’s Center, that includes behavioral health services and support programs for parents to encourage those struggling.

Still, the needs of families struggling right now over food insecurity, chronic absenteeism, lack of transportation, substance abuse issues and more are difficult to address in a system strained and inadequately funded by state and local policymakers, said Peri Stone-Palmquist, co-executive director of Student Advocacy Center, an organization based in Ypsilanti.

“There’s all sorts of reasons (families struggle) and are often not easy to address,” she said. “I know people would just love maybe an easy answer, but that just hasn’t been my experience with families. I mean, there are some families that it is an easy answer, if you’re able to give them stable housing and give them a job, that’s what they need, right? And then there’s other families that have more complicated issues and challenges and barriers that need more support.”

This story has been updated to edit for clarity.

Contact Lily Altavena: [email protected].

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