Our Mission
Young Minds Advocacy is a California 501 (c) (3) nonprofit founded in 2012 to address the number one health issue facing young people and their families today—unmet mental health needs. Using a blend of policy research, legal advocacy, and strategic communications, the advocates at YMA work to reform publicly funded Systems of Care so that all children and youth have full access to effective, high-quality mental health services.
Why is Children’s Mental Health Important?
Mental illness is America’s number one health challenge for young people between the ages of 12 and 24. Research shows that more than one in five children in the U.S. will have a diagnosable mental health disorder by the age of 18 [1]—a risk well above that of any other age group [2]. Nationally, the rate of adolescents and young adult suicide has reached its highest level in nearly two decades [3]; in California, youth suicide increased by 15% from 2009 to 2018 with other incidents of self-harm rising by 50% [4]. Despite these statistics, policy conversations about mental health typically focus on adult illnesses. This often translates into a “me-too” approach in which programs that aid adults are assumed to satisfy young people’s needs as well. Regrettably, such an approach ignores the fact that children’s mental health challenges occur within a psycho-social developmental arc that makes assessment, diagnosis, and treatment more complicated and much more time-sensitive than adult treatment.
In contrast to adult care, numerous programs or agencies are typically responsible for addressing youths’ mental health needs, ranging from special education, child welfare, probation, family or juvenile court, substance use, specialty mental health, managed healthcare, and developmental disabilities. But, all too often the patchwork of services delivered by multiple agencies operating independently, each according to their specific mission, regulations, funding requirements, and culture, results in uncoordinated, conflicted, or no care at all.
In practice, California’s ‘System of Care’ falls far short in fulfilling promises set forth in existing law and policy. The instances are many. Under the federal Medicaid law, for example, states must provide a broad array of mental health services and supports, yet access to behavioral health services in California ranks well below that of other comparably populated states. Sixty-six percent of youth experiencing a major depressive episode went untreated in 2018—that’s 259,000 young Californians without the care they are promised [5]. At Young Minds Advocacy we aim to implement reforms that will Turn Promises into Practice under a well-coordinated and accountable System of Care that puts children, youth, and families first.
[1] Child Mind Institute (CMI), Children’s Mental Health Report (2015), 1. http://www.speakupforkids.org/ChildrensMentalHealthReport_052015.pdf.
[2] National Institute of Mental Health. “Prevalence of Any Mental Illness (AMI)” and “Prevalence of Any Mental Disorder Among Adolescents.” Mental Health Information, Statistics. Available at https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml. Accessed November 16, 2020.
[3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics. CDC WONDER: about underlying cause of death, 1999-2017. [ Database] Published December 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2019 from https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html.
[4] Auditor of the State of California (2020), Youth Suicide Prevention. California State Auditor Report 2019-125. Sacramento, California. Retrieved on November 6, 2020 from http://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2019-125/index.html.
[5] Reinert, M. Nguyen, T., Fritze, D. (2020) The State of Mental Health in America 2021. Mental Health America. Alexandria, Virginia. Retrieved on November 6, 2020 from https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/State%20of%20Mental%20Health%20in%20America%20-%202020_0.pdf.