Director steps down from kids' mental health center after 46 years

AUSTINTOWN

Greg Cvetkovic retired Thursday as executive director of D&E Counseling Center, which helps children with mental-health problems — those whom he calls “society’s invisible children.”

“Kids and teens don’t have much of a voice in dealing with their mental-health issues. They don’t cry out. They need organizations like D&E and others to advocate for them,” he said.

“That is one of the reasons I feel so strongly about the center,” said Cvetkovic, who worked there for 45 years, including 40 years as its director.

The D&E Counseling Center is a private, nonprofit community mental-health center that provides comprehensive behavioral-health care to children, adolescents and their families.

Cvetkovic, 66, a 1966 graduate of Liberty High School, is being replaced by Joseph J. Shorokey, 53, formerly D&E’s clinical and program services director. Shorokey, of Boardman, grew up on Youngstown’s West side and graduated from Ursuline High School in 1979.

Thirteen percent to 15 percent of all children have significant mental-health problems, but only about one-third get the treatment they need, Cvetkovic said.

Read more about the issue in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.