YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH REMAINS A TOP CONCERN FOR CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE MEMBERS

Last month, Children’s Alliance conducted our annual member survey. It was a chance for community members, partners, and advocates that support the work of Children’s Alliance to weigh in on the issues that matter most to them, and for us to gather vital community input. At Children’s Alliance, we advocate with, not for, the communities we serve, and this survey is one of the ways we invite members to help us identify the policy issues that are most important for children and families across the state.  

This year, we received 222 total responses. While these responses don’t speak for the whole state, they align with growing concerns about the youth mental health crisis that we are seeing nationally and across Washington.  

We asked about the policy issues that matter most to respondents, and about the challenges currently facing the children and families in their lives. In response to both questions, mental and behavioral health ranked number three as the most pressing issue. It ranked just behind two other long-term policy priorities of Children’s Alliance: Child Care/Early Learning and Racial Equity.  

Mental and Behavioral Health is a newer priority for Children’s Alliance, and one that is growing in urgency. We added it to our Legislative Agenda as a top priority for the 2023 Legislative Session after members continually reported it as a top concern in our 2021 and 2022 surveys. This year, survey respondents cited lack of access to mental health care, lack of culturally-relevant and trauma-informed care, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic on the mental health and well-being of both children and parents as factors that contributed to this concern. 

In addition to adding Mental and Behavioral Health to our legislative agenda, Children’s Alliance convened a small workgroup of youth behavioral health experts to examine potential policy solutions to get our kids the mental health care and support they need. We published the results of their research and analysis in a report released earlier this year. We look forward to leveraging these findings with lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session and working with our members to secure sustainable change for Washington kids.  

If you are interested in learning about how we can improve youth mental health through policy changes, we hope you will join our upcoming virtual event, Path Forward – a panel discussion with Representative Lisa Callan, co-chair of the Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group, and Dr. Trevor Greene, Superintendent of Schools for Yakima School District. Together with Children’s Alliance Executive Director, Dr. Stephan Blanford, they will explore promising policy approaches to addressing the youth mental health crisis in Washington, and share insights on how we can collectively develop a system that provides the care our youth deserve. 

We are grateful to all the members who continually give us feedback to help us craft events, communications, and policy priorities. We will report on additional survey findings in the coming months.  Check back with the blog in October and November to get updates on our findings and how you can get involved in the 2024 Legislative Session.