Jessica Knudsen

Founded in 1886, Clarity Child Guidance Center is the only nonprofit in South Texas providing a continuum of mental health services for children ages 3-17 and their families to manage mental health conditions ranging from depression and anxiety to suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia. 

In keeping with its vision to ensure that every child and family that needs its services receives its services, Clarity offers a stand-alone 66-bed, four-unit inpatient mental health hospital; a Crisis Assessment Services unit; day treatment; outpatient therapy; the region's largest concentration of child and adolescent psychiatrists; wraparound services such as case and medication management; and innovative therapeutic art and active play programs.

Presently serving nearly 6,000 children annually, Clarity accepts an array of insurance plans including Medicaid and Tricare, but never turns a family away because they cannot pay. Without its services, lower income, under-insured families--which make up a vast majority of its patients--would have few places to help with their child’s serious mental illness.

 Jessica Knudsen, LCSW, FACHE, CEO and President, elaborates: “Our hearts are deeply moved by the numerous challenges that can impact children’s mental health. From academic pressures and social dynamics to the influence of digital media and societal expectations, the landscape they navigate is very complex. Social media creates a false reality so adolescents are overwhelmed with anxiety and self-esteem issues because their young brains cannot adequately process the ‘firehose’ of information coming from their smartphones.  Other stressors are bullies, school performance, divorce and custody agreements. Cyberbullying happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; there is absolutely no break. There is also a permanence to bullying; a negative post or an inappropriate photo can be reposted and shared and will live in the cyberworld in perpetuity.”