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Since the start of the pandemic, our community and our country <br />have seen a three-fold increase in the number of youth with <br />diagnosable mental health conditions as well as an increase in <br />the urgency and severity of mental health needs. <br />Our youth have lived through a global pandemic during a crucial stage of their <br />development and are more likely than previous generations to seek mental health <br />care. These factors, combined with the sharp decline in mental health providers — <br />especially those working with youth in nonprofits — has created an unprecedented <br />strain on providers, individuals, and their loved ones. The American Academy of <br />Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s <br />Hospital Association, have declared the state of child and adolescent mental health <br />a national emergency. <br />NYFS School-Based Therapist Carolyn Babekuhl reflects, “Over the past two and a <br />half years, the entire world has experienced trauma from the pandemic, including our <br />children. They lost loved ones, financial stability, and missed significant developmental <br />milestones. These challenges are not addressed just by returning to school in-person. <br />Although students have returned to school, they have not had the opportunity to <br />process these losses and it is expressed through their behavior. It is apparent that we <br />need to prioritize the mental health of our youth at this time.” <br />At NYFS, our School-Based Mental Health services offer youth the benefits of <br />developmentally-targeted therapy in a school setting where they have the greatest <br />opportunity to regularly access the help they need or receive support when in <br />crisis. In addition to heightened social and emotional concerns, we are seeing youth <br />with significant (and often deferred) needs including high rates of post-traumatic <br />stress disorder, anxiety with panic attacks, severe depression, and thoughts or plans <br />of suicide. We ensure that youth can access these trauma-informed and culturally- <br />responsive services on a sliding-fee scale. <br />At NYFS we serve three school districts in the Roseville, Mounds View, and <br />White Bear Lake areas, offering care from elementary through high school-age <br />students. We work in meaningful partnership with school staff, supporting the overall <br />mental health needs of youth in the schools we serve. Sometimes this includes active <br />mental health response to school personnel, teachers, and students following a crisis <br />or tragedy. We are there to serve the whole school as comprehensively as we can. <br />Even as the need strains our system’s ability to ensure care to those who most need it, <br />we feel immense hopefulness as the narrative around youth mental health is changing. <br />And it is the youth who are leading the way in ensuring their own healthy futures. <br />School-Based Mental Health Program <br />NYFS.ORG 5 <br />Serving Youth in Schools <br />Amidst a Mental Health Crisis <br />“The problems we are seeing are greater in both number and intensity. There are more students <br />who are struggling with their mental health, and because there are more needs across the <br />whole system of care, we are filling a gap for youth who actually need a higher level of care.” <br /> — Steven Lutes, School-Based Mental Health Programs Manager