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Spearheading Integrated Mental Health Care

Our future leaders need healthy minds.

Mental health care for children is underfunded and overstretched. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 80% of kids who need specialized mental health services don’t get them.

The COVID-19 pandemic turned the mental health crisis into an emergency. It exposed inequities and gaps in care. Depression, disordered eating and substance abuse increased sharply. So did domestic violence and gun violence.

Trauma and toxic stress harm children. They’re linked to heart problems, obesity and depression and lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. Children’s National aims to change this trajectory. We’ll tap into our expertise and community network to build a powerful force that intervenes before a crisis occurs.

Our commitment to comprehensive care integrates physical and mental health. We seek significant investments to translate this commitment into broader action.

Mental health innovations and expansion will help kids — from before birth by supporting maternal health, and through childhood, adolescence and beyond.

Contact Meredith Chipman at [email protected] to learn more and lead the way.

 

Taylor's story

Taylor’s mom, LaKeisha, shares how care from our Early Childhood Behavioral Health program helped her daughter overcome debilitating anxiety after a frightening episode.

Read more stories

Transform Mental Health Care Across Our City

Broaden Outreach and Support for Families

Kids need skills, tools and the support of trusted, informed adults to navigate their lives. We’ll expand services through the Early Childhood Innovation Network, our Parent Navigator Program, and other groups. This support will foster greater child and family resiliency.

Create a Model Suicide-Prevention Program

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death in adolescents. Through expanded research, screenings and clinical interventions, we’ll deliver life saving prevention and treatment.

Embed Mental Health Specialists in All Clinics

We will strive to unburden families of the stigma of seeking help for mental health by pairing it alongside our world-class primary and specialty care. We’ll add psychiatrists and psychologists to our teams of clinicians and social workers in all six primary care locations and across our specialty clinics.

Engage Our Community

We will train local primary care providers across the region in mental health care. This will enable us to identify more kids and families with mental health needs, treat them in their trusted medical homes and connect them with specialized resources. Our vast community network will be a powerful force to intervene before a crisis occurs.

Expand Screenings and Care Coordination

We will screen for maternal, caregiver and child mental-health issues in our primary care locations, emergency departments, NICU and specialty clinics. Then, we’ll intervene swiftly.

Increase Access to Trauma-Informed Mental Health Care

We will grow our Child and Adolescent Protection Center team. We’ll also offer wellness services for our staff, who often experience chronic emotional stress in caring for child abuse and trauma survivors.

“Philanthropy provides concrete ways to reach families and help them get the services they need. It's not that we're curing their mental health issues. We're providing them the mental wellness to be able to live with difficulties and thrive because they've gotten the treatment that they've needed.”
– Bhavin Dave, M.D., Co-Director, Early Childhood Behavioral Health Program
“Both moms and dads can experience post-partum depression. So, every parent that walks through our doors needs to be screened. If nobody asks, if nobody actually screens, we won't know. We're unique in that we're a freestanding children's hospital that also is looking to take care of families.”
– Lamia Soghier, M.D., FAAP, CHSE, Medical Unit Director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
“I work as a psychologist within primary care. There’s such a high demand and limited resources for pediatric mental health care, especially for the specialty types of interventions that our families often need. Our goal is to provide as much of that intervention within primary care in hopes of helping families faster.”
– Nikita Rodriguez, Ph.D.