Nov. 23--VICTORVILLE

--At any given time about 5 percent of children suffer clinical depression during critical phases in child development, according to information from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Some children are shuttled from foster home to foster home, then suddenly find themselves turned out to society at age 18. Others come from a home with no sustaining loving or nurturing structure in their life while growing up. Add all that up and the formula for depression becomes compounded.

"We see depression from birth into adulthood," said Debbie Reno-Smith, executive director of Victor Community Support Service. "A lot are depressed because they have no support system, no family or are thrown out of foster care at 18 with nowhere to go. Some have longterm mental illness and end up on the street. They come from all walks of life, rich and poor."

VCSS has 14 different programs in place to help kids with any number of problems they are facing from depression to defiant behaviors, verbal and physical aggression or a tough time making the transition into adulthood.

" O u r TAY ( T ra n s i t i o n a l A ge Youth) program helps those kids in the 16 to 25 age group make the transition into adult life," said Christian Heime, a Marriage Family Therapist and counselor with the TAY program. "Many of them don't know how to apply for a job, get a drivers license, work for a high school degree, just basic life skills."

She said that youths they work with in the TAY program experience emotional disturbance, are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, are aging out of foster care, mental health system or juvenile justice system.

But it isn't just the older youths in transition that VCSS treats.

"We see babies and toddlers that are clinically depressed," Reno-Smith said. "Infants know when there is something wrong in the home and it brings on depression that people in the home won't recognize as depression."

Heime said there are a lot of different issues for infants and toddlers.

"When there is physical and substance abuse infants will display signs of depression. (Being) hard to wake up or not wanting to get out of bed are just some of the signs," Heime said.

She said if the toddler can be caught early, the improvement that can be made with counseling and therapy support can help improve the child at a more rapid rate.

R e n o -- S m i t h s a i d t h e i r T h e ra p e u t i c Behavioral Services are provided in the home and school setting to address severe, at-risk behavioral concerns of youth under the age of 21. The program is designed to work with the youth and family in their natural setting to teach coping skills and behavior management techniques.

VCSS has been helping families and children for more than 40 years and provides therapy and counseling to about 500 kids a year.

Heime said their success over the years is due to the very structured programs to combat depression and mental illness from infant to adulthood. She said the process is sometimes a lifelong job.

" We t re at t h e depression and mental health that many times doesn't go away, but we keep treating it," Reno-Smith said. "We deal with high-risk, complicated situations and our first goal is to keep the kids safe from others and themselves."

VCSS can be reached by phone at (760) 245-4695 or one of its two Victorville locations: 15095 Amargosa Road, Suite 201 and 14360 St. Andrews Drive, Suite 11.

Patrick Thatcher may be

reached at 951-6227 or at

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To see more of the Daily Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.vvdailypress.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Daily Press, Victorville, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.