A harrowing exploration of one of the country’s most troubling hidden shames: the widespread neglect of disabled children by the institutions that have sworn to protect them

Four-fifths of American children with serious mental health problems receive no professional treatment whatsoever. They are the product of an overextended and often neglectful system that, as Lee Gutkind writes, has reached the level of insanity. Following the stories of three children—Daniel, Meggan, and Terri—Stuck in Time chronicles the tragedies and injustices wrought not only by the deficiencies of the mental healthcare system, but by government policymakers who have failed to address the problem. Through these children and their families, Gutkind explores mental illness as both a scientific and social issue, from the harsh economic realities of supporting a disabled child to the immense difficulty of finding a suitable counselor.

Written with passion and piercing detail, Stuck in Time is a poignant examination of three families fighting against impossible circumstances, and of a system too inflexible to accommodate the helpless victims it is meant to support.