A recent national survey published in February indicated that approximately one-fourth (25%) of parents across the United States indicated that at least one of their children required child mental health services in the past year but did not receive them. The magnitude of this issue illustrates how many families do not have access to sufficient resources to support their child(ren)’s mental health needs in 2026.
For numerous families, they do not struggle with identifying that their child has a mental health issue but rather finding affordable and accessible child mental health services within a reasonable period. Parents reported long wait lists for appointments; a multitude of denials from their insurance company; and a lack of culturally or linguistically competent child mental health providers.
Parents who completed the recent national survey reported that they were most often pursuing child mental health services due to their child(ren) being diagnosed with anxiety and depression, having issues with attention/concentration, or demonstrating behavioral concerns. Nonetheless, approximately 25% of these families reported that their child(ren) never received an appointment with a counseling, psychiatric, or therapeutic provider. Some were informed that the next available appointment was several months in the future—far too long when a child is isolating from their friends and family, experiencing insomnia, or expressing thoughts of suicide.
Families reported experiencing a high degree of emotional distress as a result of these barriers to obtaining care. Caregivers report feeling guilty and helpless while their child(ren) experience a decline in their mental health. To provide their child(ren) with the appropriate level of care, many caregivers reported making numerous phone calls; throughout this process, many caregivers were referred to school-based mental health staff, which were also extremely unattainable.
People are working together to find practical and compassionate ways to support youth’s mental health. Many youth mental health experts believe that providing pediatric mental health care at pediatric offices and school health centers will help into children’s comfort and trust with the providers working with them and will allow for opportunities to receive assistance in a familiar environmental.
In addition to utilizing telehealth, parents and caregivers have become major advocates for children’s mental health care services. Parents/caregivers are joining advisory councils, providing testimony to state legislatures, and telling their stories through local news outlets as part of their efforts to increase accessibility to services through greater parity with other types of health care services through insurance, and to advocate for more resources to support the newly expanded types of services available to children. Ultimately, parents/caregivers believe that no youth should endure his or her pain quietly due to an overly complicated or slow system.
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