OCMH Senior Research Analyst Amy Marsman spotlights recent articles, resources, and research findings impacting youth mental health.
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Positive Childhood Experiences May Prevent 30% of Poor Mental Health
Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) influence adult health and well-being. While ACEs are linked to chronic disease and poor mental health, PCEs have been shown to build resilience and promote positive outcomes.
This study investigates associations between PCEs and adult health and socioeconomic outcomes and found PCEs and ACEs were inversely related. Higher PCEs were associated with significantly improved outcomes, including reduced depression, better mental health, and increased income and education, regardless of ACEs. The research estimates that maximizing PCEs at the population level could theoretically prevent up to 36.5% of depression and 30.7% of poor mental health in adulthood.
Children Present or Witnessing Violent Deaths and Suicides
How often are children reported as present for or witness to violent deaths and suicides, and what are the related circumstances? In this cross-sectional study of nearly 200,000 violent deaths and suicides that occurred in the US from 2019 to 2023, children were reported present for or witness to almost 1 in 10 of them. Many of the violent deaths and suicides took place in homes, involved a firearm, and were preceded by intimate partner problems. These findings underline opportunities for a comprehensive approach to preventing violent deaths and suicides, reducing children’s exposure to these traumatic events, and ensuring postvention opportunities for young survivors.
Adoption Competency: Building an Empirical Foundation
More than 15 years of research and training from the Center for Adoption Support and Education shows that adoption competency is not only definable but teachable and measurable. Evidence from national surveys, expert consensus, and multiple evaluations of the National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative demonstrates that adoption competent clinicians build stronger therapeutic relationships and deliver more effective, adoption-informed care than untrained peers. This resource summarizes the empirical foundation behind these findings and highlights how specialized training directly improves well-being and stability for adoptive families.
Half of U.S. Children Are Missing Out on Summer Programs
The Afterschool Alliance released a new report, The Summer Struggle, showing just how many families want more real-life opportunities for young people during the summer and how many are being left out. Cost is the top barrier, and children in high-income families are more than three times as likely as children in low-income families to be enrolled in a summer program.
The report also shows what parents value: most are looking for safe places with caring staff, less screen time, support for mental health and well-being, peer connection, confidence-building, and a sense of belonging. In other words, parents are not just looking for child care during the summer.
See also their Summer Fact Sheet, Executive Summary, and Wisconsin Dashboard.
Belonging Protects Youth from High-Risk AI Use
The Rithm Project released a report – Youth, AI, and the Relationships That Shape Them – showing how relationships where young people feel genuinely seen, safe, and like they matter were the strongest protection against high-risk AI use. Notably, the number of close friends did not provide protection leading the authors to conclude that quality relationships matter more than quantity. The report also covers how young people are using AI and organized them into profiles of use: The Bestie, The Gamer, and The Expert Seeker. Read more here, including a Conversation Kit, Portrait Cards, and Study Overview.
Battleground States on AI, Mental Health, Youth, and Insurance
Inseparable conducted voter focus groups and released findings showing participants across party, geography, and gender share deep frustration with the American health care system; share growing concerns about youth mental health; and share nearly unanimous support for AI regulation—especially when it comes to children and mental health care. For details, see the research memo.
Putting Parents Back in Charge of Firearm Safety
Children and Screens released a report that to address firearm content that youth are exposed to online. The report calls for greater transparency from digital platforms to help parents better understand and respond to youth exposure to firearm-related content online. The report identifies key transparency improvements for social media platforms that would help put parents (as opposed to algorithms, influencers, or weapon sellers) back in the driver’s seat. These include clearer disclosure around: how often minors are shown firearm-related content; how recommendations are shaped by engagement, user data, and emotional indicators; which influencers and content pathways are promoted to young users; the safety standards in firearm content recommended and shown to youth.
Sharp Decline in Young Adults Who Talk to their Neighbors
In a new report, Strangers Next Door: The Decline of Neighborhood Socializing and the Class Divide in Belonging, the Survey Center on American Life describes the drop in neighborly interactions and trust in recent years. Since the pandemic increased opportunities for remote work and flexible schedules, Americans have been spending more time at home but social interactions among neighbors has fallen.
The collapse has been far more pronounced among certain groups. Only one in four young adults (25%) now report engaging with their neighbors, a substantial drop since 2012 when half (51%) of young adults said they conversed with neighbors a few times a week.
Cash Transfers Reduced Infant Maltreatment at the Population-Level
Rx Kids is a universal and unconditional cash transfer program for new moms in Flint, Michigan. Moms receive $1,500 during pregnancy, and babies receive $500 a month for a designated length of time that varies between 6 – 12 months. The program is based on the belief that financial security is directly linked to child health and well-being. In this cross-sectional study, the implementation of Rx Kids was associated with a statistically significant 7.0–percentage-point decrease in the investigated allegation rate among infants born in Flint, corresponding to a 32% decrease relative to the preintervention period. The authors conclude that these findings provide important evidence about the role of economic stability in preventing child welfare system involvement.
The Largest Share of Child Welfare Spending Is on Out-of-Home Placements
Nearly half of U.S. child welfare agencies’ spending is on out-of-home placements, according to new Child Trends analysis. This category includes costs associated with family-based foster care, congregate care placements, services for children in out-of-home placements and their families, and associated administrative costs. While this distribution of spending has held relatively steady over recent years, child welfare agencies have been trying, when possible, to prioritize prevention more than out-of-home placements.
One goal of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 was to provide more funding for prevention. This analysis reveals a slight decrease in the proportion of child welfare agency expenditures used for out-of-home care from state fiscal year (SFY) 2018 to SFY 2022, providing early evidence of a small shift in focus away from out-of-home care.
Milwaukee Indicator Maps
Data You Can Use released the 2026 update to their indicator maps for Milwaukee’s neighborhoods. These indicators are intended to help community members, planners, policy makers, and neighborhood organizations to plan, document and explore key pieces of information about their neighborhoods. The Milwaukee indicators provide variables along with a city-wide view of important topics and are intended to help community members, planners, policy makers, and neighborhood organizations to plan, document and explore key pieces of information about their neighborhoods. Based on community feedback, several of the indicators have been expanded to include data for all of Milwaukee County in this release, when data was available.
Everyday Skills Buffer Developing Brain from Prenatal Stress
A research study from CUNY Graduate Center and Queens College found that strong adaptive skills in early childhood—such as communication and self-care—can protect brain function from the effects of prenatal stress. Studying children exposed to Superstorm Sandy in utero, researchers found those with higher adaptive skills maintained healthy limbic system activity at age eight. The findings suggest early childhood programs that foster independence and social competence can have lasting neuroprotective effects.
Updated Database: Federal Funding Streams for Children and Youth Services
The Children’s Funding Project hosts a popular Federal Funding Streams for Children and Youth Services database, which was recently updated to include fiscal year 2025 funding data and 130 more funding streams. The total number of federal funding streams in the database is now 434. Users can filter funding by administering agency and subagency to identify topical funding sources, as well as filtering by state. The Children’s Funding Project is seeking feedback on the database’s effectiveness and examples of the data are used. Dashboard users are invited email Esther Grambs, manager, federal fiscal data, to share feedback on this data tool.
More Than 1 in 4 Children and Youth in Foster Care Have a Special Health Care Need
An analysis by Child Trends find more than 27% children and youth (birth to age 21) in foster care are reported to have a diagnosed Special Health Care Need (SHCN), but that increases to 39% when looking just at foster children ages 13-21. Among children and youth in foster care with an SHCN—irrespective of age—the two most common SHCNs are “emotionally disturbed” (57%) and “other diagnosed SHCN” (59%). Research shows that children and youth who enter foster care often have less access to appropriate health care before entering foster care. This lack of appropriate health care can continue during foster care for children and youth when services and supports are not widely accessible.
Public Schools Helped More Than 1.5 Million Homeless Students
SchoolHouse Connection announced that federal data show public schools identified more than 1.5 million children and youth experiencing homelessness in the 2023-2024 school year, the highest number since national reporting began in 2004. This number is a critical measure of both the scale of child and youth homelessness, and the fact that when schools have the resources and capacity to identify and support students, more children and youth experiencing homelessness are enrolled, attending, and on a path to success. The data also show some progress in reducing chronic absenteeism and improving high school graduation for students experiencing homelessness – significant trends in light of increased numbers and need. See related policy and practice guide to removing attendance barriers.
988 Lifeline and Crisis Services Use Among LGBTQ+ Young People
The Trevor Project outlines data on 988 use among LGBTQ youth. Most have heard of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (84%), and of those, most (61%) had heard of the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services. More than two-thirds (68%) of LGBTQ+ young people who had used the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services found it at least moderately helpful; nearly 4 in 10 (38%) found it very or extremely helpful.
Transgender Youth Who Receive Hormone Therapy are Less Suicidal
To examine changes in suicidality following hormone therapy (HT) among transgender and gender-diverse adolescents and young adults, this study used a retrospective chart review of 432 patients ages 12-20 who completed the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions before and after treatment initiation. The researchers assessed within-person changes in suicidality over time, adjusting for age at treatment and treatment duration. They found that suicidality significantly declined from pretreatment to post-treatment, and that the effect was consistent across sex assigned at birth, age at start of therapy, and treatment duration. The authors concluded that hormone therapy was associated with clinically meaningful reductions in suicidality over time, extending prior findings with a larger sample and longer follow-up. These study findings provide clinical evidence supporting the mental health benefits of timely access to hormone therapy in this population.
The Crucial Role of Recess in School – for Students of All Ages
Recess has been waning in the U.S. Since the mid-2000s, up to 40% of school districts nationally have reduced or eliminated recess. The Brookings Institute reports that American kids get approximately 26 minutes of recess per day, some receive less.
Recent studies show that unstructured time at recess is exactly what students need to effectively process and retain newly acquired classroom information. However, not all students have daily recess, or sufficient time outdoors. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released an updated policy statement on the critical importance of recess, stating that “Recess is a necessary break in the day for optimizing a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. In essence, recess should be considered a child’s personal time, and it should not be withheld for academic or punitive reasons.” The policy also supports breaks during the school day as a universal benefit for all ages, outlining the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits of play.
Related, see the new OCMH Data Bite on the impact of nature on children’s mental health and how playing outdoors is foundational to well-being.
Anonymous School Tip Lines Reveal Patterns in Threats and Mental Health Concerns
Led by researchers from the University of Michigan, a recent study found anonymous school safety tip lines, used statewide in 34/50 states, provide critical insights into when young people report threats of violence and mental health concerns. The study revealed that tips follow clear timing patterns. Tips received during the school day are not likely to be related to life-threatening situations (e.g. bullying) whereas tips received outside of school hours are more likely to be life-threatening (e.g. suicidality, school attacks). The most tips were submitted in October and March, though a higher proportion of tips requiring an emergency response was submitted when school was not in session (July). This analysis could have important implications for school and community resource planning and prevention.
Mental Health Conditions Are the Dominant Underlying Cause of Maternal Death for American Indians and Alaska Natives
According to a Child Trends review of recent federal data, mental health conditions are the leading underlying cause of maternal death during pregnancy and up to one year postpartum among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people. Mental health conditions were the underlying cause in more than a third (36%) of all AIAN maternal deaths. Additionally, while roughly 80% of maternal deaths are considered preventable nationwide, 94% of AIAN maternal deaths in 2022 were preventable. These data help to highlight AIAN needs and clarify how supportive services can support maternal mental health. Strengthened data systems could improve service delivery, funding decisions, and ultimately reduce preventable AIAN maternal deaths and contribute to improved perinatal outcomes for Native mothers and their children.
Report Finds Mental Health Services For Wisconsin’s Medicaid-Eligible Youth Woefully Inadequate
Children’s Rights issued a report outlining how Wisconsin’s Medicaid programs are failing to adequately provide mental and behavioral health care services to children. Over 500,000 children – about 45% of the state’s child population – receive their health coverage under Medicaid. The new report finds the state’s Medicaid systems to be underfunded and inaccessible, with enormous service disparities from county to county including services that are unavailable in some areas, insufficient in scope, frequency, or duration, or not provided in a timely manner.
The report includes background on Wisconsin’s Medicaid-funded behavioral health services and programs; insights from families and children with lived experience; and legal analysis, along with policy and practice recommendations. The report builds upon findings contained in a statewide action plan recently issued by Governor Evers.
State Guide to Using Data for Community Engagement Determinations
According to Inseparable, Medicaid is Mental Health. Medicaid is the nation’s single largest payer for mental health and substance use treatment and covers nearly one-third of adults with mental health conditions and one-fifth of adults with substance use disorders. Medicaid is a cornerstone of state mental health systems, supporting care for children, parents, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities in every state.
Inseparable and Mental Health America have created two resources for states and policymakers to help navigate recent federal changes to Medicaid and strengthen state programs to continue to protect access to care, including a guide to using data for community engagement determinations.
90% of Pediatricians Care for Children with Anxiety
Caring for children and adolescents with anxiety and depression is a core part of pediatric primary practice, according to findings from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Nine in 10 primary care pediatricians reported caring for children with anxiety (90%) and depression (85%) at least weekly; one-third saw patients with anxiety every day. While nearly all pediatricians strongly agreed or agreed (97%) that identifying anxiety and depression is part of their professional responsibility, they also report substantial barriers to treating mental health conditions. Lack of time (94%) and lack of behavioral health resources (90%) were the top barriers; three quarters said lack of training in brief interventions, inadequate payment, and lack of training in prescribing medications were additional barriers.
Clinical Report: Framework for Approaching Healthy Mental and Emotional Development in Pediatrics
In this clinical report, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) explains that there continues to be a sense of hesitancy in approaching mental and emotional development in pediatrics. This hesitancy is related to pervasive barriers including lack of comfort, time, and perhaps most importantly, lack of resources to offer families. However, research supports that families benefit from interventions that foster healthy relationships and whole health throughout their child’s development.
This report presents a reframe of mental and emotional development as part of whole health as opposed to a condition that should only be diagnosed and treated when something is “wrong.” The report also provides a stepped approach that may be helpful for addressing mental and emotional health concerns in pediatrics and acknowledges the advocacy that is needed to expand mental and emotional resources widely.
Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations May Exacerbate Unmet Mental Health Needs in Children
Medicaid covers almost 40% of US children and state Medicaid programs are increasingly implementing financing and delivery system reforms through Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Little is known about how Medicaid ACOs are associated with outcomes for children with behavioral health conditions. This cross-sectional study included 15,783 Medicaid-insured children with behavioral health conditions found that Medicaid ACO implementation was not associated with improvements in behavioral health care access or care experience. Rather, ACO implementation was associated with an increase in unmet mental health needs. Results of this study suggest that Medicaid ACOs have not yet produced broad gains in behavioral health care for children and may exacerbate unmet needs, underscoring the need for pediatric-specific strategies within ACO models.
National Trends in Pediatric Admissions for Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders (SSRDs) are a group of complex psychiatric and physical symptoms that are an increasingly important concern in pediatrics. Although many children with SSRDs are managed by their outpatient provider, others require hospitalization when the diagnosis is unclear or symptoms become difficult to manage in the outpatient setting. Until now, our understanding of hospitalized patients with SSRDs has largely relied on single-center studies. A new national study using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) provides a broader view of how often admissions occur, who is affected, and what factors contribute to greater health care use among these patients.
Study Tracks Declines in Annual Checkups as Teens Become Young Adults
A new study led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers using data on adolescents and young adults (AYAs) ages 15 to 23 has added to evidence that as kids get to high school and transition to adulthood, many begin to skip yearly wellness visits with a pediatrician or other primary care provider. Skipping those checkups can have serious health consequences, including missed early markers of diseases and disorders that come with growing older and are treatable with early interventions. These youth face a critical period of vulnerability during the transition to adulthood, when serious relationships begin, new jobs start and environments shift – all of which impact mental health. The study found females with mental health symptoms were less likely to be engaged in primary care visits.
Advancing Child Health: Forecasting the Next Great Research Achievements
The pediatric scientific community identified 10 areas of high research promise for the future – one of which is children’s mental health. The article forecasts research on early recognition, prevention, and intervention of behavioral and mental health disorders could prevent disorders from either (i) progressing to diagnosis or (ii) escalating in severity level beyond outpatient care. This approach could include the use of advanced computational research (including AI and machine learning) to develop tools for early recognition and to identify patients on a trajectory toward (i) a diagnosis of a behavioral or mental health disorder or (ii) escalation of existing disorders. A second opportunity is research focused on developing, implementing, and disseminating evidence-based behavioral and mental healthcare into clinical practice and across the care continuum (in the community and academic settings).
Genetic Susceptibility to Schizophrenia and Onset During Adolescence
Research has found that children with higher genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia show decreases in frontal cortical surface area during early adolescence, in contrast to the regional expansion observed in children with low genetic susceptibility. The study suggests that individuals with high genetic liability for schizophrenia may already show deviations in their neurodevelopmental trajectories before symptoms typically appear in young adulthood. The findings provide insights for refining developmental models of schizophrenia and for informing the timing of preventive interventions.
Digital Media Use and Psychosocial Health among Adolescent Boys and Young Men
This study synthesized recent literature highlighting how and why adolescent boys and young men may face unique media-related psychosocial health risks and potential benefits. For adolescent boys and young men, gendered digital environments intersect with developmental processes related to identity formation, masculinity norms, social connection, and risk-taking, with important implications for mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, body dissatisfaction, muscle dysmorphia, disordered eating, aggression, and social isolation.
Understanding these distinct media use profiles may allow clinicians, educators, and families to develop tailored approaches for screening, intervention, and prevention, supporting healthier development for adolescent boys and young men.
Surgeon General Advisory: The Harms of Screen Use
Though there is no acting U.S. Surgeon General, its office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a warning about the dangers of screen use in a new Advisory and Toolkit. Stating that harmful screen use among children and adolescents has become a public health concern, the Advisory urges schools, communities, and governments to shift the cultural norms around screens. HHS listed key takeaways from the Advisory and presents strategies organized around the 5 Ds: discuss, do, delay, divert, and disconnect. The guidance also recommends that schools prioritize paper-based work; implement bell-to-bell phone policies; limit computer use; and expand digital literacy.
More Screen Time, Less Play Time For America's Kids
A new brief from the Institute for Family Studies analyzes the distance American kids are allowed to venture from home, how much time they spend online, what devices they use, the level of restrictions on their smartphones, and how much time they spend with friends. Their findings include: by the age of 11, smartphones become the primary medium for internet access among American kids, with over 60% having a smartphone. These phones generally have few parental restrictions placed on them. Meanwhile, nearly 50% of three-year-olds use a tablet, iPad, or Kindle; and many of these children have few or no restrictions. But physical restrictions are in place for many kids. About 60% of 17 year-olds are not allowed to leave their neighborhood unsupervised.
Neighborhood Opportunity and Mental Health Hospitalizations
Using the Child Opportunity Index (COI) 3.0 and mental health–related hospitalization rates among children and youths, this cross-sectional, population-based study examined whether hospitalization rates were significantly associated with neighborhood conditions.
The authors analyzed mental health–related hospitalizations among children and youths (ages 5–24) from 12 U.S. states by using data from the 2021 State Inpatient Databases and U.S. Census. The hospitalization rate (per 10,000 children and youths) was highest in the very low–COI quintile and lowest in the very high–COI quintile. That is, children and youth residing in lower-opportunity neighborhoods had higher mental health–related hospitalization rates. The rates varied by state and psychiatric diagnosis.
Longitudinal Study of Social Prescribing Program
Loneliness and social isolation are increasingly recognized as public health challenges linked to higher health care costs and poor health outcomes. As mental health needs continue to outpace the availability of behavioral health resources, there is growing need for cost-effective, widely accessible, whole-person approaches, such as social prescribing. Social prescriptions are non-clinical community activities meant to address the root causes of loneliness, depression, and other mental health conditions.
This study examines changes in self-reported mental health during participation in Art Pharmacy, a social prescribing program, among adults referred through health care and community partners. Changes in mental health over time were measured with the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index. WHO-5 scores increased significantly over time suggesting that participation in an arts-based social prescribing program was associated with improvements in mental health over time. The results contribute evidence to social prescribing, and support the need for further evaluation of social prescribing in controlled studies.
Mental Health and Substance Use Services Gaps Analysis in Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) collaborated with the UW Population Health Institute in 2025 to investigate gaps within the mental health and substance use services system across Wisconsin. The assessment was designed to supplement existing quantitative data from state and federal data systems with qualitative data—insights and lived experience perspectives—from service providers and people being served.
The recently released DHS report presents the findings of this analysis. Children and young adults were identified as underserved populations.
Cross-System Collaboration to Support Children and Youth
SAMHSA has published a new resource on cross-system collaboration to support children and youth with behavioral health needs and their families.
Children and youth with behavioral health needs and their families often are involved with multiple child- and family-serving systems, including child welfare and juvenile justice systems. These youth and their families may face overwhelming and conflicting requirements from various agencies or even through court mandates, and experience additional stress and burden from having to navigate fragmented care across siloed public child- and family-serving systems.
Each state has a different structure and approach to financing and delivering services across public child- and family-serving systems. Further variations exist within systems, based on federal, state, and local laws and rules. This paper introduces behavioral health, Medicaid, and public health agency leaders, administrators, managers, and policymakers to selected public child- and family-serving systems. It also describes the population of youth with unmet behavioral health needs; reviews the child welfare, juvenile justice, intellectual and/or developmental disability (I/DD), education, and housing/homelessness prevention systems in brief; and identifies opportunities to build and maintain systems and support collaboration to prevent multisystem involvement and keep children and families in their homes and communities.
OCMH Research and Data Resources
Key Facts in Youth Mental Health:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/ResearchData/KeyFacts.aspx
Fact Sheets:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/ResearchData/FactSheets.aspx
Data Sources:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/Resources/DataSources.aspx
Research News in Youth Mental Health:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/OCMHNewsletters.aspx
Youth Mental Health Initiatives:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/Resources/ChildrensInitiatives.aspx
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