Organization provides help for families of kids struggling with mental health issues

BOSTON - One of the toughest challenges for parents of kids who are struggling with mental health issues is how and where to find help.

Resources have been scarce and if kids don't get the proper support, they risk ending up in crisis. That can mean children being stuck in a hospital emergency room for days or even weeks without treatment.

But Parent/Professional Advocacy League says it can help.  

It's an organization that has been teaching parents how navigate the mental health system for more than three decades. It works by paring them with parents who have similar lived experience.

"I often say there is not a PTA for children that have mental health needs," explained Meri Viano of the PPAL office in Waltham. "It was started 32 years ago at the kitchen table with families that thought, 'we need other people to understand what we are going through', and we want to be there fore everyone is going through the same journey," she added.

PPAL is available to families all over the state and is free of charge.