KITCHENER

Brantford family calls for increased youth mental health services after losing 12-year-old daughter

Krista Sharpe CTV News Kitchener Videographer

Published Wednesday, April 6, 2022 7:37AM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, April 6, 2022 7:27PM EDT

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The family of 12-year-old Grace McSweeney says she passed away March 28 after a long battle with depression. Feeling like the system failed them, they are now pushing for more mental health resources for youth.

Sitting inside a Brantford Funeral Home just hours before a memorial service, Lauren Smith described her daughters as having, “a heart of gold” and “always thought of others.”

“She loves anime and music,” Smith said adding that she was always very loving and sweet.

The family says the grade seven student passed away at McMaster Hospital and add that the grade seven student died by suicide after a long battle with mental health and depression.

Smith says she and her daughter always had a very close relationship, but described a slow downfall.

“Every year she started closing off and closing off,” she said.

Smith also says her daughter was bullied and she had been witness to it.

“I remember she cried the one day when I finally had it addressed,” Smith explained. “After that she stopped telling me.”

Sitting next to Grace’s step-father Jeremy Krentz, Smith says she started to see a decline around the age when Grace started school.

Krentz says they noticed signs of change in behavior as early as 10-years-old.

The pair say they were well aware of her struggles, but felt somewhat helpless.

“I went through [school] for social services worker, had my diploma worked for the Canadian mental health [association], but she would not open up to me,” Krentz said.

The pair say they monitored her internet and phone use with parental apps and that it was sometimes they only way they would know what was going on.

“She didn’t want to be a burden she didn’t want people to feel sorry for her, so she bottled it up, since she was little,” Smith added.

SEARCH FOR HELP

Smith and Krentz say they are sharing their story because they don’t want any other child to go through what Grace did. They’re pushing for more mental health resources for children 12 and under.

“Parents aren’t counsellors, no matter how close you are. No matter what,” Smith said.

The family says they tried to get consistent professional help for Grace, but struggled to find sufficient resources for her age, and without having an unattainably large price tag attached.

The pair feel that they didn’t fit into the options available financially.

“I don’t make a lot of money, but I still make more than any government funding will allow me to make in order to get her the help,” Krentz said.

The couple says Grace was offered six counselling sessions at her school, and after those were completed, the government offered eight sessions.

“So spread them out or however you want to do that,” Smith said, describing the process.

The family decided on one session a week.

“Her counsellor changed her life, and I told [Grace] that from the get-go. She’s a different person,” Smith said.

She adds that, during the time Grace was receiving counselling, she would spend more time with the family and would appear happier, even laugh and spend time on the phone with her friends.

“Huge difference,” Smith said, “But she was coming up on the eight weeks.”

“She wanted counselling, she enjoyed counselling, she looked forward to counselling, we just couldn’t give her enough counselling,” Krentz added.

Nearly exhausting their allowance on the two counsellors, the pair said she was waiting to hear on approval for a third type of government program. Meanwhile, they searched for another alternative.

“We called and called and called, there’s only one place that would deal with children under the age of 13,” Smith said.

Grace was then put on the waitlist.

“Within that limbo,” is when her mom said she took her own life.

“That poor kid," said Smith. "It didn’t matter what we did, she needed the help.”

Grace passed away four months before her 13th birthday.

It’s unclear if her age is what kept her from getting the help she needed, but Smith and Krentz are convinced it was a factor.

Smith says Grace always said “I love you” every night no matter where she was. Despite suffering, she always showed kindness, something Smith knows not every parent gets to experience, especially around the teenage years.

“Hug your kids every night," Smith said. "Tell them you love them, even though they might say ‘I hate you’ back. Because it sucks not having her here.”

A GoFundMe has been started in honour of Grace. Her family and friends have already surpassed their initial goal.

The website reads, “All leftover proceeds will go towards funding counsellors in schools and youth mental health services.”

PROVINCE AND SCHOOL BOARD RESPOND

When CTV News reached out to the Ministry of Education, they shared a statement on behalf of Minster Stephen Lecce, that reads in part, “Bullying and discrimination in all its forms is unacceptable. We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic loss of Grace McSweeney, and our entire Ministry is sending strength and prayers to her family and school community.”

Lecce went on to say, “For the current and coming school year, we have invested $300 million to hire roughly 3,000 more staff, including more mental health workers, teachers, social workers and guidance counsellors to better support students.”

When asked if donations can be used to hire school mental health counsellors, the ministry shared a portion of the Provincial Fundraising Guideline, which states, “In general, funds raised for school purposes should not be used to replace public funding for education and should not be used to support items funded through provincial grants, such as staffing, classroom learning materials, textbooks and capital projects that significantly increase operating costs.”

Grace was a student at Bellview Public School in Brantford. The Grand Erie District School Board told CTV News, “The mental health and well-being of students across Grand Erie is a priority for the board and we take incidents like this extremely seriously.

“We are deeply saddened by this situation. Counselling services continue to be provided to students and staff at the school. We are also working closely with crisis support groups to share contact information and make additional supports available within the community.”