Posted January 28th, 2021 for Child Trends
January 28, 2021
Today, Child Trends released an ambitious agenda to support and improve the mental health of children across the United States both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In
A National Agenda for Children’s Mental Health , Child Trends mental health expert Jessica Dym Bartlett and school health expert Brandon Stratford propose five strategies that, if adopted and funded, would improve the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of the nation’s children, youth, and families.
“Before the pandemic, one in five children had a diagnosed mental health disorder, a number that does not include the scores of children who go undiagnosed due to lack of healthcare and other systemic challenges,” said Bartlett. “The strategies we propose would not only help children get treatment, but also call on policymakers and other mental health leaders to address the root causes of mental health disorders, particularly poverty and racism, and prevent children from needing treatment in the first place.”