In recent years, rates of mental health conditions have increased among Ohio children and youth. Childhood mental health conditions are associated with an increased risk of chronic physical health conditions (e.g., diabetes, heart disease), continuing mental health problems and worse employment outcomes in adulthood. HPIO’s Child and Youth Mental Health Advisory Group will guide development of a series of four policy briefs.
HPIO’s child and youth mental health policy brief series
- Brief #1: Mental health conditions among Ohio children and youth - Presents prevalence data for mental health conditions among Ohio children and youth.
- Brief #2: Factors contributing to child and youth mental health struggles - Explores factors contributing to child and youth mental health challenges, including data, when available, on the extent to which these factors are present in Ohio.
- Brief #3: Access to mental health care for Ohio children and youth- Focuses on access to child and youth mental healthcare across the continuum of services.
- Brief #4 will examine health insurance coverage and cost/affordability of care and how they influence access to mental health services.
Advisory Group Meetings
Past
Thursday, August 21, 2025 from 1:00 p.m.-1:45 p.m. (online via Zoom)
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 from 2:00-3:00 pm (online via Zoom)
Additional HPIO child and youth mental health-related work
Youth who are involved in the juvenile justice system are more likely to have a mental health condition, and the number of Ohio justice-involved youth who need mental health supports has increased since 2019. This brief was generated based on feedback from HPIO's former Criminal Justice and Health Advisory Group who mentioned that a publication about the health and well-being of justice-involved youth would be useful for policymakers and advocates. The brief is tangentially related to HPIO's on-going child and youth mental health series, particularly the third brief which focuses on mental health care access for children and youth.
Connections between youth mental health and the juvenile justice system, explores how youth mental health can affect and be affected by involvement in the juvenile justice system.
This brief was informed by experts from HPIO's child mental health and former criminal justice and health advisory groups
This work is funded by the Harmony Project and HPIO’s other core funders
