Partnership to End Addiction

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Youth mental health has been worsening in recent years, and the
COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these trends. Even before the
pandemic, 20 percent of children had an identified mental health
condition annually, and 40 percent met criteria by age 18. However,
only 10 percent receive treatment.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children's Hospital Association
recently declared a National State of Emergency in Children's
Mental Health, and the Surgeon General issued an

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advisory on protecting youth mental health, highlighting the severity
of the crisis and the need to improve prevention and treatment for
youth behavioral health.

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As Alice knows, addressing youth mental health issues is also critical
for addressing substance use and addiction. Her son's
"substance use was propelled by mental illness." His
depression and anxiety started in middle school and worsened with his
father's illness, and after his father's death, his
substance use escalated from marijuana to alcohol and prescription
drugs. Self-medicating for his mental illness ultimately led to
addiction.

To help kids like Alice's and countless others struggling with
mental health, it is crucial to improve the full continuum of
pediatric mental health and substance use disorder care.

Encourage your member of Congress to cosponsor the Strengthen
Kids' Mental Health Now Act, which would help do this by
increasing Medicaid payment rates for pediatric behavioral health
services, providing guidance to states to expand access to mental
health services, and providing grants to support pediatric behavioral
health care integration and expand the capacity of the pediatric
behavioral health system.

Act now

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People and families struggling with substance use and addiction
encounter a variety of systemic challenges throughout their journey,
which is why we created a new section of our website called
"Help Us Change the Story of Addiction." The site features
personal stories like Alice's that bring these structural
barriers to life. Each story offers visitors an opportunity to
advocate for policy change by signing an action alert or by sharing
similar stories from their own journey.

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Let's change the story of addiction today.

Read Alice's story

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Partnership to End Addiction

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711 Third Avenue, 5th Floor, Suite 500
New York, NY 10017
drugfree.org
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