On June 15, I was proud to gather more than 1,000 people at New York’s first-ever Youth Mental Health Summit, where I was joined by advocates who care deeply about fixing the unprecedented mental health challenges many children and teenagers face. The presence of so many at the summit — including national mental health experts, youth advocates and providers, parents and caregivers, educators, and others — made a statement that we collectively understand the magnitude of this crisis, the pain it’s causing, and the kids who need our help.

It also gave me hope that we are a caring state who can work together to be a part of the solution.

Governor Hochul hosts the New York State Youth Mental Health Summit. (Aidin Bharti)

Children and teenagers are facing a crisis unlike anything this country has ever seen before. Today, mental health challenges run deep, as our youth face staggering rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide. According to the CDC, 42% — almost half of all high school students — feel persistently sad or hopeless. And 22%, particularly high school girls, have considered that the alternative to life would be better.

Among LGBTQ youth, who have increasingly become the targets of politically-motivated attacks from far-right extremists, the numbers are even more jarring. Almost 70% of LGBTQ kids feel persistently sad or hopeless. Among them, 37% have made a suicide plan.

Suicide rates among Black youth are reaching alarming rates, rising 37% between 2018 and 2021. Concerningly, those numbers do not weigh the full effects of the pandemic, which impacted the mental health of children and teenagers in ways we do not yet fully comprehend.

These numbers are chilling, and as the first mother to govern the State of New York — and someone who has seen kids in pain — they are personal. More than anything, the statistics are a worrying reminder that what we’ve been doing is simply not enough.

For too long, we have underinvested in mental health care, and the decades of ignoring this crisis, especially in schools, led us to a critical point, which was only exasperated further by COVID, a national gun violence epidemic, and an increased reliance on social media for connectivity.

Having spoken to kids and hearing their heartbreaking stories of isolation, fear, and loss, they have consistently made it clear: they need more help. They need more mental health professionals in schools, not one counselor for a school with 700 students. They need to learn in an environment free from the fear of gun violence, which has become the leading cause of death for children and teens. They need training to discuss the power of social media and its impact on mental health in smart, thoughtful ways.

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More than anything, they need all of us to step up and take action to implement bold, common-sense measures that can mitigate this crisis.

Beginning this year, my administration took the first step in establishing meaningful solutions to this crisis by ending years of underinvestment in mental health care. We are overhauling the entire system with a long-term, $1 billion investment to provide services for all levels of need, prevent people from falling through the cracks, and ensure everyone gets care on a continuous basis. Additionally, we announced a historic $34.5 billion investment in education and $347 million in gun violence prevention funding, allowing us to take well-rounded, comprehensive approaches to assisting our youth.

Further, we are going to define specifically what future policies New York can implement while pushing other states and the federal government to follow our lead. These should include measures to stop social media from preying on our kids and reduce its influence on their mental health, embed professionals in the communities most heavily impacted by this crisis (e.g., LGBTQ, Black, and Latino communities), and invest in nation-leading mental health research programs to help inform future policy decisions.

Finally, we will continue to work directly with those impacted by this crisis: young people. After hosting listening tours with kids and teenagers throughout the state and gathering so many committed New Yorkers at our Youth Mental Health Summit, the importance of young voices helping shape the conversation could not be clearer, and it will be essential for them to be at the forefront as we devise new policies.

These critical actions are just the beginning. They are a vow to take on the hard questions, give unconventional answers, and challenge the status quo on mental health. More simply, they are a promise to do better.

Together, with the thousands who gathered and lent their voices at the summit — and the millions of others for whom this issue is so personal –— I believe that we can accomplish better starting today.

Hochul is governor of New York.

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MILFORD — Gov. Maura Healey signed a proclamation declaring May as Mental Health Awareness Month during a visit Tuesday to Riverside Community Care’s South County location on West Street.

Healey signed the proclamation after a tour of the facility with Kate Walsh, her secretary for health and human services.

Riverside’s Milford facility is part of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform, which was unveiled last summer and called for the creation of 29 community behavioral health centers throughout the state. The facility offers behavioral health services including treatment for mental health, substance use and co-occurring disorders.

“I’m so impressed with the dedication of the team,” Walsh said of Riverside before Healey’s proclamation signing. “The coordination not only in this building but also in the region — I really think it’s one of the best examples I’ve seen of the way health care should do across the board.”

Healey echoed Walsh’s statements, saying she was also impressed with Riverside.

Riverside’s role:Greater Milford gets big investments as part of state’s behavioral health rollout

“Know that with this team, on behalf of myself and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Secretary Kate Walsh and her entire team, while we recognize that May is Mental Health Awareness Month, we are a team that understands that’s something we’ve got to bring focus to every single day,” the governor said.

“One of the things I get the honor and privilege of doing from time to time is signing proclamations,” Healey added. “We’re very very grateful to all of you.”

The signing was attended by local and state officials, including state Rep. Brian Murray, D-Milford, and about 20 Riverside staff members.

“It’s nice to have the governor come all the way down here and the fact that she picked us, I think it’s special,” said Manny Oppong, Riverside’s vice president of service integration. “There’s something about what we do here that I believe made her decide to come here. I think this is a place where a lot of wonderful people work, every day that I come here I encounter people that are really dedicated to their work.”

Riverside responds to mental health needs of Blackstone Valley

During her tour, Healey took time to speak to staff of the mobile crisis intervention unit.

Riverside reported conducting 398 youth evaluations during the first quarter of this year, about triple the number (132) it saw in the same period a year ago. The number of youth intakes increased by more than five-fold, from 12 to 63.

Coming to Milford:New and expanded behavioral health care center opens on West Street

More multilingual mental health workers needed

State officials and staff members discussed the changing needs of the Blackstone Valley region, including a need for more multilingual employees.

Oppong pointed out after the tour that 58% of children in Milford speak a language other than English as their first language.

“We have to respond, because if you don’t, you’re going to leave a bunch of your community behind,” he said, adding that Riverside has been seeing more patients who speak languages other than English.

“This work itself is difficult, our clinicians are having to juggle multiple things, so it’s no longer what you learned in school anymore,” Oppong said.

Julie Greiner-Ferris, a senior director who has been with Riverside for more than 35 years, echoed the changing needs, and explained the importance of the CBHC model.

“A community-based approach to mental health is able to be a local resource for the community, and is critical in order to get people the help they need when they need it,” she said.

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MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers this week will visit kids and schools and meet with children’s mental health professionals and advocates across the state to highlight initiatives included in his 2023-25 budget to invest in kids’ mental health and well-being. The governor’s proposed budget investments include more than $270 million in permanent, ongoing funding for the “Get Kids Ahead” initiative, which Gov. Evers created last year to expand school-based mental health services. Gov. Evers is urging Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature to approve his 2023-25 biennial budget request to provide the largest increase for K-12 schools and education in state history.

“I’ve always said that what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state, and we know that the mental health challenges facing our kids, families, and communities across Wisconsin is a crisis that we must work urgently to address,” said Gov. Evers. “If we want to improve outcomes and ensure our kids are prepared for success, then we have to make sure our kids can bring their full and best selves to the classroom.” 

During his 2023 State of the State address, Gov. Evers declared 2023 the Year of Mental Health, and his 2023-25 budget proposal invests approximately $500 million to bolster mental and behavioral health services across the state. This includes significant investments to ensure every kid has access to critical mental health services, such as those provided through the “Get Kids Ahead” initiative.

Earlier this year, the CDC released its Youth Risk Behavior Survey report, which includes alarming statistics about student mental health. In 2021, the survey found more than 40 percent of high school students felt so sad or hopeless nearly every day for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped doing their usual activities. Nearly 60 percent of teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless—nearly double the rate for teen boys—and nearly a third of teen girls seriously considered attempting suicide. About 70 percent of LGBTQ students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and more than 20 percent of LGBTQ students attempted suicide.  

“We cannot afford to look back and wish we would’ve done more and sooner to get our kids the mental health supports they need. It’s absolutely critical that the Legislature approve my budget investments into K-12 education, including our ‘Get Kids Ahead’ initiative to expand access to school-based mental health services for kids across our state,” Gov. Evers concluded.  

Gov. Evers announced the “Get Kids Ahead” initiative during his 2022 State of the State address, with an initial investment of $15 million of the state’s American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide school-based mental health supports and services for nearly every school district in the state. Last fall, as kids, educators, and staff returned back to school, Gov. Evers announced he would be doubling his investment in the initiative, bringing his total investment to $30 million.    

Under Gov. Evers’ “Get Kids Ahead” initiative, every public school district in the state was eligible to receive funds to go toward providing direct mental healthcare, hiring and supporting mental health navigators, and providing mental health first aid and trauma-based care training, among other key needs to support student mental health. Every district that opted into the program received a minimum of $20,000, with the remaining allocation distributed on a per pupil basis.   

More information regarding the governor’s historic investment in Wisconsin’s kids and schools, including a more than $2.6 billion increase for K-12 education, is available here.   

Additionally, more information regarding the governor’s plan to invest more than $500 million to expand access to mental and behavioral health services across the state is available here.    

“Get Kids Ahead” Initiative 
Gov. Evers is meeting Wisconsin’s student mental health crisis head-on by investing more than $270 million over the biennium to make his “Get Kids Ahead” initiative a permanent program, including: $235.8 million for a reformed, comprehensive school-based mental health services program based on per pupil payments instead of competitive grants;  $36 million per year to reimburse schools for costs around an expanded list of school mental health professionals; and  More than $1.1 million for staff training on evidence-based strategies.  The governor’s investment will also provide nearly $11 million to allow schools to receive Medicaid reimbursement for telehealth origination costs.    An online version of this release is available here.

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