New data continues to reveal the mental health toll on youth from COVID-19, social media, mass violence, and the many other challenges kids face every day. While the phrase “mental health crisis” can be alarming for parents, the goal of this report is to shed light on this growing problem, help parents know how they can help their kids and understand what support is available for your family.
Main Office
Main Office
2024 Youth Mental Health Report
2024 Youth Mental Health Report
Tips & Tools for Parents & Caregivers
One of the best things parents can do is know the warning signs their kids may need help, and then intervene as early as possible.
Warning Signs:
- Changes in sleeping or eating patterns
- Changes in mood, including outbursts or extreme irritability
- Persistent sadness
- Losing interest in or withdrawing from activities they normally enjoy
- Starting or increasing substance use
- Hurting oneself or talking about hurting oneself
- Talking about death or suicide
- Frequent headaches or stomachaches
- Difficulty concentrating
- Changes in academic performance
- Avoiding or missing school
- Changes in sleeping or eating patterns
- Changes in mood, including outbursts or extreme irritability
- Persistent sadness
- Losing interest in or withdrawing from activities they normally enjoy
- Starting or increasing substance use
- Hurting oneself or talking about hurting oneself
- Talking about death or suicide
- Frequent headaches or stomachaches
- Difficulty concentrating
- Changes in academic performance
- Avoiding or missing school
How to Talk About Mental Health
We know kids don’t always show signs of mental health concerns and can be good at hiding what they are going through or feeling. That’s why it’s important to have conversations about mental health and ask about their mental health.
Having these conversations normalize mental health for your kids and also clues you into any issues your kids might be experiencing. Download the report for more examples of how to start these conversations with your family.
Getting Started
Call (816) 254-3652 or visit our Open Access page to learn about walk-in services.
If you or a loved one are in crisis, please call our 24/7 crisis line at 1-888-279-8188, or call or text 988.
Screenings
The U.S. Preventive Service Task Force is made of up health professionals and psychologists who evaluate evidence on various preventive health services. The task force now recommends regular anxiety screenings for youth ages 8 to 18 and regular depression screenings for adolescents ages 12 to 18. This can be done with your primary care physician, school counselor or mental health professional.
Getting Help
It’s hard to know when to ask for professional help. Dr. Garima Singh, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, says, if you are wondering if you should seek care for your child, the answer is yes. By the time you are considering this, it is time to seek support. Here is how Comprehensive Mental Health Services (CMHS) can help:
School-Based Prevention
CMHS provides services inside schools in the Kansas City area, serving kids onsite in schools. This allows kids to receive the necessary treatment while preventing barriers to care such as transportation. As previously stated, 70 percent of kids who receive mental health care receive it in a school setting. This program is vital in providing early intervention and helping kids get the help they need. In addition to mental health benefits, partnerships between schools and community partners have proven to:
- Enhance the academic success of individual students
- Significantly improve attendance rates
- Help create a positive school climate
- Improve discipline rates
- Increase graduation rates
Learn more here or contact your school’s school counselor to get started.
Outpatient Therapy & Counseling
Sometimes talking to an expert, who can remain objective and provide sound advice and guidance, can be a great launching pad toward progress. We work with children as young as three through their adolescent years and can provide individual or family therapy support.
Youth Psychiatry
CMHS’s psychiatry team can work with your child to help manage symptoms through medication. The team works closely with your child’s other providers to make sure medications are working well and adjusted as needed over time.
Youth Community Services (Case Management)
CMHS’s youth support services provide community-based services for kids and families with serious emotional disturbances and mental health disorders. We partner with youth, families, and various community agencies involved in the family’s life to identify and build on the youth and family’s strengths and supports. We also provide evidence-based interventions, skill-building, access to and coordination with community resources, education about mental health symptoms and treatment, and crisis prevention, response and post-vention.
Youth Recovery Services
Our team provides individualized care to help your child overcome substance use concerns and addiction. We offer several levels of care.