New York’s Mental Health System for Kids is in Crisis

Across New York State, too many families find it impossible to get the behavioral health (mental health and substance use) services their children desperately need. The consequences can be devastating: Children get sicker; schools are overburdened; families are stressed and sometimes broken.

Meanwhile, taxpayers bear the cost when untreated problems turn into emergencies. Because they cannot get the care they need when they need it, children end up in emergency rooms, hospitals, the juvenile justice system, and foster care. Families and communities suffer further when unaddressed problems in childhood develop into adult mental illness.