Kids Count report finds limited mental health care capacity for children in Rhode Island
Nearly 40% of high school students who were surveyed for a Kids Count report said they feel sad or hopeless and only one in five say they've received help. (WJAR File Photo)
Children's mental health in Rhode Island remains in a state of emergency.
"I can't even imagine being a parent of a child or a teenager that desperately needs mental health services and can't get them," said Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of RI Kids Count.
According to the annual policy brief, calls to the Kids Link hotline are slightly down from this time last year, but remain higher than pre pandemic levels.
"We're really looking at a workforce crisis as a result of very, very inadequate funding for years for our community-based mental health system for children and youth," said Bryant.
This, at a time when rates continue to climb.
"One in five, or 19% of all children age 6 to 17 has a diagnosable mental health problem and one in ten, 10% has significant functional impairment, so it is really an urgent issue," said Bryant.
Youth of color and those who identify as LGBTQ are affected at higher rates--pointing to the continued disparities.
"There's a lot of emphasis on the fact that we have kids waiting in the emergency rooms to get psychiatric beds in hospital, like Bradley and Hasbro's psychiatric floor and that is really an urgent issue, but we need to go upstream and really to make prevention and early interventions the focus of our work," said Bryant.
She said providing basic needs like food, clothing, housing, and relying on primary care providers and schools to act as sort of gate keepers is crucial.
A bill passed in Rhode Island's last legislative session, the Trauma-Informed Schools Act, promises to make a difference.
"It requires that every person in every school building in Rhode Island is trained on trauma-informed care," said Bryant.
This, and other programs, are a start, but so many more resources are desperately needed.
"Rhode Island Kids Count is going to do everything in its power to ensure that this policy brief does not stay on the shelf," said Bryant.
"This policy brief really is a continued call to action," she added.
Bryant says addressing the workforce challenges is paramount, especially in our community settings.
Bringing in more counselors to underserved schools, too, is crucial.
It's up to parents to get more involved and demand these changes.