CCC Joins Partners in Launching Coalition Targeting State’s Behavioral Health Crisis Among Children

Today, CCC joined other advocacy organizations, behavioral health providers, and New York families in Albany for the launch of the Campaign for Healthy Minds Healthy Kids.

The campaign aims to create the public and political will necessary to ensure that all children and adolescents in New York receive the high-quality behavioral health services they need.

Learn More About the children’s behavioral health crisis in New York StateVisit the Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids website by clicking here.

The current behavioral health system for children is underdeveloped and unable to respond to the mental health crisis facing New York’s children and youth.

Across New York State, too many families find it impossible to get the mental health and substance use disorder services their children desperately need. The consequences can be devastating: Children get sicker, parents miss work, schools are overburdened, and families are overwhelmed and sometimes broken.

Children are left on waitlists or forced into emergency rooms, hospitals, the juvenile justice system, or into preventable foster care placements because they cannot get the care they need when they need it. Families and communities suffer further when unaddressed problems in childhood develop into adult mental illness.

New York’s Behavioral Health System For Kids Is In Crisis

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for New York children age 15-19, and the third leading cause of death for children age 5-15. These alarming figures are growing even faster amongst Black and Latinx children.

Suicide attempts among New York high school students are increasing

From 2009-2017, reported suicide attempts among high school students increased 36%.

The rates are highest among Hispanic and Black high school students.

In 2017, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual students reported considering suicide at three times the rate of their non-LGB peers

New York families struggle to find the behavioral health care they need

the Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids Urges New York State To Address This Crisis

Given the rising rate of youth suicide in New York and shortage of mental health care professionals across the state, The Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids is demanding the State ends all cuts to children’s behavioral health care

It is no longer enough for the state to assert that managed care and health insurance coverage are sufficient to meet the access and continuity of care needs of the children’s behavioral health system. New York State must ensure timely access to necessary clinical services; make available a range of evidence-based interventions that have proven effective; and hold accountable the health plans and insurance carriers charged with and paid to deliver behavioral health services to New York’s children.

The Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids is calling for:

1. Placing a moratorium on any cuts to children’s behavioral health services
2. Establishing mechanisms to identify, analyze, and address systemic barriers that prevent children and families from accessing timely and appropriate services.
3. Holding health plans accountable for meeting contractual obligations and enforce mental health parity laws on behalf of children and youth
4. Laying the foundation for a system of care that guarantees timely access to treatment and improves children’s behavioral health outcomes.