By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

The Livingston County Children’s Network Community Summit took place last night and was a chance for people in the community to hear updates concerning the progress of the organization.

Speakers included many from IHR, the Livingston County Special Services Unit and even a person who benefitted from these services that help children with mental health needs.

Joe Vaughan, executive director of IHR, said this was the third annual summit and said they could show how successful the program is.

“Whether it’s a drop in juvenile court or less behavior issues in school, the access they have for services both at school and at IHR has drastically increased. I think the stigma for kids seeing a counselor in any capacity has decreased so they’re more likely to come in and help us solve their problem,” Vaughan said.

Dr. Kristal Shelvin, who is the LCCN Coordinator and LCCSU Clinical Services Supervisor, said the summit itself has evolved and seeing the large crowd gathered was exciting.

“That was awesome seeing so many people from our community so invested in children’s mental health. I was glowing, I’m sure, when I got up to speak and saw all the new faces, as well as the faces of people who have been at the two previous summits was amazing that people want to hear about the work that we do and the successes we’ve had over the last several years,” Shelvin said.

For more information, visit lcchildrensnetwork.org.