Access to mental health care for Ohio children and youth

Many Ohio children and youth are struggling with mental health conditions. Early identification and treatment can keep them on a path toward well-being and realizing their full potential. However, families around the state are encountering various barriers to getting children the treatment they need, including critical provider shortages, high costs of care and difficulties navigating the health and insurance systems. Further, significant gaps in data availability are limiting policymakers’ ability to make data-driven decisions regarding how to improve access to mental health care, which could improve the well-being of young Ohioans and decrease costs for years to come.

This brief focuses on access to mental healthcare services across levels of care. 

Click here for a two-page executive summary

3 key findings for policymakers

• Workforce challenges. The continuum of mental health care services is broad, and there are workforce shortages at all levels, especially among clinicians trained to care for children with the most intensive needs.
• Difficulties with access to care. Ohio families with young children and/or with private (i.e., commercial) health insurance can face considerable difficulty accessing mental health care for their children.
• Lack of data. There is a significant lack of data on mental healthcare access in Ohio. Increased data collection and analysis would allow Ohio policymakers to better understand gaps in access and more strategically direct attention and resources.  

Parent and caregiver experiences with barriers to child and youth mental health care

This community voice spotlight focuses on the experiences of parents and caregivers in Ohio when accessing mental health care for their children, providing important perspectives on the considerations described in the accompanying policy brief.

From these conversations, HPIO identified key issues  that caregivers face when attempting to get their children mental health care. The brief covers:

• Navigating the mental healthcare system
• Mental health service availability
• Provider alignment with child and family needs 
• Compounding burdens for parents and caregivers

access publication

HPIO’s child and youth mental health policy brief series

This data brief is the third in a series of four planned HPIO publications on child and youth mental health. Other briefs will address:

• Brief 1: Mental health conditions among Ohio children and youth
• Brief 2: Factors contributing to child and youth mental health struggles
• Brief 4: The influences of cost and health insurance on child and youth mental health care access

Support for this project was provided by the Harmony Project, the Woodruff Foundation and HPIO’s core funders.