Raising Joy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of pediatric patients being admitted to Cook Children’s Medical Center for mental health symptoms hit record levels. This resulted in a need for innovative ways to care for patients in a safe and compassionate manner. 

On this episode of Raising Joy, Jennifer Horn, RN, and Alex Fejer, RN, from Cook Children’s introduce us to two solutions they helped create, including a new screening tool focused on keeping young patients at ease. They also tell us about the new behavioral emergency response team that was formed to help keep patients and medical staff safe during mental health crises.

It’s a topic we don’t want to think about, but unfortunately it impacts every city across the U.S. Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. In North Texas, the nonprofit Unbound Now is working diligently to support survivors and fight this hideous crime in our community. 

On this episode of Raising Joy, executive director Sandy Hennip, MSW, joins us to talk about Unbound Now and what parents need to know about human trafficking. 

The mental health crisis affecting children and teens is no secret. Families across the U.S. have struggled to cope through the pandemic and afterward. In Fort Worth, Texas, a local school district and university are teaming up to provide access to mental health resources to kids and their families.

Ottis Goodwin is the director of Family and Community Resources at Fort Worth ISD. He joins us on this episode of Raising Joy to talk about his school district’s new program with Texas Christian University, as well as how kids are doing in the wake of COVID-19. 

On this episode of Raising Joy, we meet Callie Crow, founder of Drew’s 27 Chains.

Crow spent her 27-year career saving lives as a paramedic, but she never imagined her focus would one day turn to overdoses. She started Drew’s 27 Chains in honor of her son who died of an opioid overdose in June 2020. The organization provides free Narcan and training to law enforcement agencies and other first responders and is credited with saving more than 30 lives to date.

The holidays are upon us and that usually means gathering with loved ones around tables of food. For people with eating disorders, this can be a very triggering time of year. 

Tyler Wooten, M.D., is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist with the Eating Recovery Center, Dallas. He joins us on this episode of Raising Joy to share his expertise about eating disorders and how we can help support those in our lives who may be struggling. Dr. Wooten also shares the warning signs parents should look for to tell if their child may be struggling with food.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24 in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the first seven months of the COVID-19 lockdown, U.S. hospitals experienced a 24% increase in mental-health-related emergency visits for children aged 5 to 11, and a 31% increase for those aged 12 to 17.

On this very special episode of Raising Joy, we sit down in front of a live audience in Fort Worth, Texas, to interview acclaimed author, Andrew Solomon, Ph.D.

Dr. Solomon spoke to us about his recent article in The New Yorker called, “The Mystifying Rise of Child Suicides,” and recounts what he has learned from conducting dozens of interviews with parents who have lost a child to suicide. 

This is a difficult, yet important episode for anyone interested in learning more about the mental health crisis affecting youth in America.

In 2021, there were 1,570 visits at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Jamye Coffman, M.D., is the medical director of the Child Advocacy Resources and Evaluation (C.A.R.E.) Team at Cook Children’s.

On this episode of Raising Joy, she talks to us about her work as a pediatrician dedicated to treating victims of physical and sexual abuse, neglect and drug exposure. Dr. Coffman also shares about the increase in patients being targeted by predators online and how parents can help protect their children.

Since 2017, Cook Children’s Emergency Department has treated more than 300 children and teens for gunshot wounds. One of those children, a 4-year-old boy, changed the life of Daniel Guzman, M.D., forever. While Dr. Guzman couldn’t save this child from his fatal injuries, he vowed to do everything in his power to save other children from the same fate.

Later that year, he launched the Aim for Safety program at Cook Children’s, which focuses on preventing gun injuries in children and teens. On this episode of Raising Joy, Dr. Guzman (who is a gun owner himself) explains how parents can protect their children, regardless of whether or not they have a gun in their home.