The United States in recent years has seen an unprecedented increase in mental health problems for children and youth. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1 in 5 U.S. children ages 3–17 has a mental, emotional, behavioral, or developmental disorder. Many more children and youth are at risk due to stress, family and neighborhood factors, stigma, discrimination, racism, online bullying, etc. Last year, the Surgeon General issued an advisory on the youth mental health crisis, calling it the “crisis of our time.” Many researchers, advocacy groups, and other organizations have called for action to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and youth. Given the continued urgency of this issue, the 2023 Hauser webinar series for the Hauser Policy Impact Fund has focused on children and youth mental health.

Drawing on the work of the Board on Children, Youth, and Families in the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education and the Health and Medicine Division at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the upcoming webinar will focus on the driving factors that contribute to the children and youth mental health crisis, including disparities and inequities in the mental health system.

Speakers will include:

• Leslie Walker-Harding, Division Chief and Director Ford/Morgan Endowed Professor and Chair, Seattle Children's Hospital (Moderator)
• Margarita Alegria, Professor, Departments of Medicine & Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Chief, Disparities Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harry G. Lehnert, Jr. and Lucille F. Cyr Endowed Chair, Mass General Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Tumaini Rucker Coker, Professor and Division Head of General Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, and Seattle Children’s Hospital
• Kimberly E. Hoagwood, Cathy and Stephen Graham Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Health
• Caren Howard, Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy, Mental Health America