Addressing the youth mental health crisis

Across the nation, one in five children is living with a mental health disorder. Less than 50% of these children will ever receive the appropriate treatment. Imagine if only half of the children who broke a bone this year were treated. If children with terminal diseases waited weeks or months to be admitted to intensive care.

Mental health is health. It is fundamental to happy, healthy futures for our kids. And, like physical illnesses, mental health challenges only grow more severe if left untreated. But across the country, mental health is not resourced, staffed, studied, or coordinated in the same ways as physical illnesses. Our system is full of gaps that fragment, delay, and confuse care, making it crucial to address mental health concerns with the urgency and attention they deserve.

Under the pressure of a global pandemic, children’s mental health challenges have taken on historic urgency. For the first time, Colorado is in a state of medical emergency for youth mental health.

For young people like 16-year-old Luthien, who nearly lost her life to anxiety and depression

Transforming the standard of care to save lives

It’s beyond time to realize a better state of care for our adolescent’s mental health. Together, we can progress towards a cohesive mental health care system founded on collaboration and partnership. A system that ensures every child receives high-quality, evidence-based care, centered around the needs of youth and their families. Imagine:

Accessible and affordable care, from the earliest point of prevention to the most intensive crisis
Supportive, specially built environments, co-designed with families for the challenges of mental health
Access to experts, across every setting, who are trained to address the specific needs of mental health
Research that explores prevention, therapeutic intervention, and crisis stabilization
Seamless care across the system

A strong foundation for the work ahead

With support from philanthropic partners, Children’s Colorado has spent the past five years upgrading to safer facilities, building partnerships, and expanding its core services. The generosity of our donors has:

Fueled major capital improvements. Philanthropic efforts have expanded beds and upgraded facilities across the Children’s Colorado system to increase capacity and enhance care environments. Notable achievements include the renovation of the Gary Pavilion, which improved and increased acute care capacity, and the establishment of a dedicated behavioral health unit within the Colorado Springs Emergency Department, to provide specialized care.
Established new partnerships, such as with Partners for Children’s Mental Health, which serves as a cross-system resource. This collaboration has significantly improved the state’s ability to collaborate, share knowledge, and engage with key stakeholders for Colorado’s new Behavioral Health Administration.
Provided key support for successful senior investigators and up-and-coming junior investigators, seeding early-stage research projects. These projects range from creating a predictive model for bipolar disorder to integrating tools for executive function in schools, and transforming treatment in our partial hospitalization program.
Expanded core services to meet growing needs, including increased inpatient discharges (+45%), outpatient visits (+39%), and partial hospitalization services (+49%) from 2015 to 2021.

Taking Colorado from a state of emergency to a new state of care

Children’s Colorado is committed to building a better mental health future for kids. Your generosity plays a vital role in bridging a crucial funding gap, especially as the number of children facing serious mental health challenges continues to reach crisis levels.

With the vision brought by Dr. Ron-Li Liaw, inaugural Mental Health-in-Chief, the collective action of Colorado’s entire mental health ecosystem, and targeted investments by big-picture philanthropists, we are positioned to raise the standard of mental health care in unprecedented ways.

Your partnership supports urgent needs and the opportunity for long-term impact through investment in four key areas: