About 30 young people who have been treated overseas for psychological issues will “stretch struggling services to the limit” when they return to Bermuda this month.Concerns are growing that the Island’s public schools system will struggle to cope with the influx of youngsters needing specialist attention. Experts say they don’t have the resources to deal with the youngsters, especially after 97 staff were cut from public schools. This included 30 paraprofessionals, who assist teachers and special-needs children in the classroom.The move to bring about 30 of 53 youngsters back to Bermuda has been branded “a disaster” as the very reason they were sent overseas is because each needed specialised care not available locally. The children, aged eight to 19, will return home by the end of this month after Government’s psychoeducational programme saw its funding cut by $1 million to $2.1 million for the current fiscal year.However, Youth, Families and Sports Minister Glenn Blakeney insists it’s not a cost-cutting measure as all the young people have completed their overseas treatment plans.The young people usually return to Bermuda for the summer, but this year most of them will not return.Instead primary, middle and high schools across the Island have been told to prepare places for them in September.Those over 18 will have to “fend for themselves” in the community by applying for jobs or seeking further education.Michael Radford, chief of psychiatry at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, said it would add extra strain to the limited on-Island services.Dr Radford said: “There’s going to be pressure on the Island’s services when these children come back. It’s going to be a disaster.“We are being told that all those coming back have finished their treatment, that’s ‘the political truth’.“But these children will still need further treatment or aftercare plans, it will mean more work for us, things are going to be stretched to the limit.“They are being thrown back into the community for the summer, then they will be back at school in September. But the public school system will have less support staff and paraprofessionals.”In recent years Bermudian children have been automatically sent to certified treatment centres in the US, UK and Canada when Government felt that on-Island services could not help them.This includes children with extreme behavioural disorders, as well as addiction problems and those who have attempted suicide.Children usually remain overseas from three months to about two years for professional services such as psychological, psychiatric and behavioural therapy.However, at a cost of from $3,000 to $14,000 a month for each of the youngsters, the high cost has come under fire.Figures released just last week showed that Child and Family Services handed over $393,000 to the Devereux Foundation in Orlando and $352,000 to Discovery Academy in Utah for psychological education last year.Campaigners have recently told The Royal Gazette that catering for the children locally would be more beneficial with a dedicated on-Island treatment centre.One high schoolteacher, who did not want to be named, said: “These young people usually come home for the summer, but this year they will not be going back.“Counsellors and teachers in schools are very concerned about this.“The school counsellors would not be skilled and it’s not within their mandate to provide a mental health service.“However, I understand that there are more psychiatrists on the Island than there used to be and … they are better equipped to deal with this than they used to be.”Another middle schoolteacher said: “It’s all a big mess, we have been told to prepare for the return of these children, but we haven’t been given the extra resources to cope.“Things are hard as it is, and this is going to stretch things further.”The Bermuda Education Network has also recently questioned the move on its Facebook page, asking: “If students have to return to mainstream high schools in Bermuda, what, if any, extra resources will be made available at the Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy?”Mr Blakeney would not comment when The Royal Gazette sent him a series of questions regarding this matter. Instead he referred us to a statement he issued last month.The statement read that the community would not be a risk as the Department of Child and Family Services reviews the aftercare needs of each child.It stated: “No children are being returned to Bermuda before they have completed their treatment plans.“There is no correlation between the reduced funding and the number of children returning home.“Whilst the budget reduction has made the operation of this program more challenging, the Department of Child and Family Services has worked tirelessly with our overseas partners to ensure every child completed every aspect of their treatment plan.”The Minister has previously been quoted as saying it was sometimes better to remove the child from a small community, where they could be stigmatised because of their problems.Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith did not respond to our requests for comment. Neither did the principals or governors at the Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy.