DULUTH - If you have a broken leg, a local hospital can treat you quickly, with no delay.

But come to the hospital with a child stuggling with mental illness, and you might have to wait months.

SMDC's behavioral health unit has the only mental health inpatient beds in the region, as well as the only partial hospitalization program for Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin.

They even get kids from as far away as the Twin Cities.

"I was afraid I would have to leave my parents," said Kamara Langenbrunner.

Ten-year-old Langenbrunner started hearing voices when she was eight years old.

When her mother, Erin Camacho, tried to get her daughter help, she was told she would have to wait.

"It was so frustrating," said Camacho.

Miller–Dwan doesn't want to put children and adolescents on waiting lists anymore.

The mental health need is tremendous – gigantic in comparision to the help Miller–Dwan is able to provide.

"To be told you need to wait six, eight, ten weeks before you can see someone is absolutely unacceptable," said Patricia Burns, president of the Miller-Dwan Foundation.

From the summers of 2008 to 2009, Miller–Dwan cared for over 750 people under the age of 18 who needed to be in a locked, psychiatric unit.

That's on average 15 children a week who have reached a dangerous and life–threatening point in their mental illness.

"For a child to be hospitalized with a mental illness, they need to be at risk of hurting themselves or someone else. And that's a pretty severe state to be in," said Burns. "So how can we stop that from happening? And how can we catch them earlier?"

Right now, Miller–Dwan can treat only 13 youth at a time on this partial hospitalization unit – which is the only one of its kind in the region.

One room houses five children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Another room holds eight adolescents in grades seven through 12.

The two small rooms fall short of scratching the surface when it comes to mental illness among youth.

"We decided this is something we need to do something about," said Burns.

While searching for a better way to help kids, the best example the Miller–Dwan foundation found was only two and a half hours away.

What they found was Clara's House – a mental health and chemical dependency hospital for children ages five to 18 in St. Cloud.

From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, about 40 young people experience new ways of healing in a home environment.

"It's really relaxing," said 18-year-old Brandon Popp from Rice Lake, who is a patient in the chemical dependency program at Clara's House.

In the five short years the partial hospitalization programs have been serving the St. Cloud area, kids and families have come forward in numbers greater than Clara's House had ever expected.

"Believe it or not, we are actually running out of space here," said Director for Mental Health and Recovery Plus at Clara's House, Deb Stueve.

"We could almost fill another Clara's House with the kids that are on the waiting lists," said Stueve.

Why is Clara's House so busy?

Their innovative programming and welcoming environment is changing how the community thinks of mental illness.

"We have experienced kids who will proudly tell someone they have been at Clara's House," said Stueve.

One of the big problems facing the Northland is the shortage of mental health professionals.

Because of their unique facility and treatment programs, Clara's House is attracting more child and adolescent mental health professionals than the St. Cloud area has ever had, increasing their ability to treat kids.

"We most definitely are doing what we set out to do. I think we've even accomplished more than we thought we would when we started," said Stueve.

One of the ways Clara's House is reaching kids is through art therapy.

Katie Kinzer is an art therapist at Clara's House who works to create self–awareness and healing in children through art.

"Everybody wins," said Kinzer.  "Because, I win as a therapist because I'm learning tons about them, but they win because they get to make something and have fun. So it's a great approach. It's an excellent tool for learning."

"It just kind of takes my mind off of other things, like drugs and stuff," said Zach Wirgau, an 18-year-old patient in the chemical dependency program at Clara's House.

Pet therapy is another way Clara's House is creating a more comfortable environment, making it easier for young people to open up about what is troubling them.

The type of therapy children and adolescents receive at Clara's House is exactly the type of care Miller–Dwan hopes to bring to the Northland.

But without community support, things like pet therapy may never become a reality.

This is where Miller–Dwan is hoping to build the Northland's variation of Clara's House – but with even more potential to help kids.

The foundation envisions a three-wing facility that will treat up to 60 youth every day.

The estimated cost for such a building is $5 million.

"There really was something very wonderful that worked at Clara's House and there was some very good outcomes with their patients," said Burns.

This is the type of care the Northland wants for its children – bringing help and healing to those who need it most – and making a difference.

"We can chose to look away from the problem, but it doesn't go away," said Burns.

If you want to help bring more mental health services to aid Northland children, call the Miller-Dwan Foundation at 218–786–5829.

If you or someone you know needs help with a mental illness, please call:

Crisis Line 218-723-0099 - Urgent assistance

General mental health questions and concerns - Referral Center 218-786-5944 or toll free 888-826-0099.