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Youth Mental Health Statistics

Looking Out the Window

  Youth Mental Health Crisis

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  •  Over 50% of U.S children have experienced at least one serious trauma (known as ACEs- Adverse Childhood Experiences)

  • 16 million children live at or below the poverty level (6 million under age 6)

  • 30% of inner city students have witnessed a stabbing or shooting

  • As many as 2.5 million youth per year experience homelessness

  • 1 out of every 4 children in school has been exposed to a traumatic event

  • Approx. 2 out of 3 children have been exposed to violence; 1 in 6 report 6+ exposures to violence

  • Over the last 10 years, the proportion of pediatric ER visits for mental health reasons has almost doubled, including a 5-fold increase in suicide-related visits.

  • By 2019, approximately 1 in 5 American children experienced mental illness every year, with only half of them receiving the necessary treatment

  • In 2021, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) declared a national emergency in children’s mental health, citing the serious toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on top of existing challenges. 

  • Youth at greatest risk for mental illness include children and adolescents living in low-income households, youth with disabilities and minorities who often experience disparities in accessible mental health treatment, with 13% of children from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds receiving mental health services compared to 31% of their non-minority peers. 

  • Research indicates that youth living with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) experience exposure to trauma at a higher rate than their non-disabled peers.  

       source: https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/about-child-trauma


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