2022 advocacy expanded edition

C hildren and youth have suffered terribly throughout the pandemic. The increases to calls to New Jersey’s Children’s System of Care (CSOC) and to the number of children and youth arriving in emergency departments for mental health reasons reflect the increased anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and other behavioral health issues experienced by this population. According to the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA), in 2020, New Jersey’s hospitals saw anxiety diagnoses grow 74% and depression diagnoses by more than 84% for young patients. The number of dispatches for CSOC’s mobile crisis services exceeded 3,500 in October of 2021, compared to 2,586 during October of 2019, and 2,181 during October of 2020. This accounts for a 50% increase from last year. School-based programs are similarly seeing higher demand. One New Jersey School Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP) reported that the number of students typically served in their High School SBYSP in the month of September pre-pandemic was 107; the number of students served in September 2021 was 141 – a 31% increase. This trend continues and is representative of heightened demand across the state. Several national medical associations declared a youth national mental health emergency in the fall of 2021 followed by an advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General in December on the youth mental health crisis, Protecting Youth Mental Health . Such advisories are issued to draw attention to urgent public health issues. Among other alarming statistics, the advisory states, “In early 2021, emergency department visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls and 4% higher for adolescent boys compared to the same time period in early 2019.” New Jersey must recognize the urgency of addressing children’s and youths’ mental health and move quickly to sustain, strengthen and expand the capacity of its children’s behavioral health services beginning with expansion of SBYSPs and increases to the children’s psychiatric assessment and partial care rates. These rates were not included in the $108 million FY2022 investment in CSOC rates. The children’s psychiatric assessment rate is $130 compared to $438 for an adult psychiatric assessment and the legislative addition of $5 million to school-linked services was temporary. It must be made permanent and even more funding must be provided to support expansion of this critically needed, accessible and effective program. 7 Children’s Behavioral Health Services Require Expansion to Meet Growing Need