About 70 per cent of mental illnesses start during childhood and adolescence, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada. (Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock)

WARNING: This story contains details of suicidal ideation.

On a windy day in October, a mother and father sat on a park bench on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, frustrated and exhausted.

At only 13, their daughter is dealing with several mental illnesses. But instead of being admitted to a residential treatment facility, the girl is being failed, her parents say.

“This system is broken. It is utterly broken,” the mother said.

CBC News has agreed not to identify