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

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.

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.

Let’s change the story of addiction today.