Child and Adolescent Mental Health Resources

Between 2011 and 2015, the number of children presenting to the ED for behavioral health concerns at Rady Children’s Hospital increased by 500%.

1 in 5 children experience a mental illness. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased mental health challenges and suicide risk among children. In this Members in Action podcast featuring maternal and child health efforts, Aisha Syeda, senior program manager at the AHA is joined by Chanda Chacòn, president and chief executive officer at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center to discuss the hospital’s investment in establishing a pediatric mental health urgent care center.

Five years ago, Shodair Children's Hospital embarked on a project to build a state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital. Designed by providers, patients and families who worked with leadership, architects, and designers, it will provide patients with individual rooms and restrooms; adaptable flexible spaces; a spiritual space with a smudge room; a pool; state-of-the-art security and safety; and quiet rooms with windows and recorded music.

Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital (HDVCH), part of Spectrum Health, is a 234-bed comprehensive children’s hospital in downtown Grand Rapids, that not only serves the needs of the local community, but also is a regional referral center for Spectrum Health and western Michigan. During the pandemic, HDVCH and community partners responded quickly to the increased need for behavioral health services and found new ways to provide them.

Nationwide Children’s launched a national movement On Our Sleeves to break stigmas around children’s mental health in 2018, and in March 2020 opened Big Lots Behavioral health pavilion.