The kids are not all right: The urgent need to expand effective behavioral health services for children and youth
Summary
Health and mental health providers, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, are warning that US children and adolescents are facing a mental health state of emergency. Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of many behavioral health conditions affecting children and youth had been escalating. In 2018, suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10–24. The proportion of all emergency department visits for kids related to mental health increased substantially in 2020. Use of services related to intentional self-harm, substance use disorders, and other mental health conditions also increased since the start of the pandemic. Too many youth—more than 48,000—remain confined in facilities away from home because of juvenile justice or criminal justice involvement. Urgent action is clearly required to help America’s kids.
Source: Brookings Institution. (2021). The kids are not all right: The urgent need to expand effective behavioral health services for children and youth.