Five years ago, CHA joined pediatric leaders to declare a national emergency in youth mental health and call on the country to act. Five years later, mental health challenges among children and teens remain pressing, while the systems designed to support them urgently need more funding and resources. Too many children continue to struggle in silence.  

In the years since the emergency declaration, we haven’t let up.  

We’ve brought children’s hospitals together to prevent youth suicide, backing that work with millions in grants and a shared commitment to reach kids and families where they are.  

We’ve partnered with the Cardinal Health Foundation and the Zero Suicide Institute to launch the Preventing Youth Suicide National Collaborative, working with 30 children’s hospitals to screen kids at risk for suicide. Already, more than 250,000 children and youth have been screened—identifying 15% who needed support they might otherwise never have received.  

And we’ve taken these concerns straight to Capitol Hill, fighting for legislation like the bipartisan EARLY Minds Act to strengthen prevention and early intervention for kids and teens.  

We know this work is far from over. If Americans are serious about protecting our nation’s future, we must put kids first. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, 55% of children ages 3-17 face challenges accessing needed mental health care, and 71% of counties in the U.S. have no practicing child and adolescent psychiatrists, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.  

Closing those gaps requires robust federal investment in the full continuum of pediatric mental and behavioral health services—from prevention to crisis care—and strengthening the specialized workforce children depend on.  

When policymakers put kids first, we don’t just address a crisis. We build a stronger, healthier generation 

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