Addressing Youth Mental Health Crisis

Floor Speech

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Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, the trauma, disruption, stress, and isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated the mental health crisis facing our young people. I have seen this reflected in my own community. My alma mater, Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois, has lost two students to suicide just this school year.

These are not isolated events. We are seeing the impacts of the youth mental health crisis play out in schools and communities across my district and across the Nation. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago has seen the number of children admitted as a result of suicide attempts increase from two to three children per month to two to three per day. There are now 3,000 children on their waitlist for outpatient mental healthcare. This is absolutely heartbreaking.

However, I find hope in seeing young people in my community stand up in the face of tragedy and demand solutions from their schools and government officials. They shouldn't have to do this, but they are organizing, participating in school board meetings, and writing and calling my office. I want them to know that I hear them, and I am fighting for them.

This summer, I introduced the Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act to invest in educating healthcare providers and evidence-based youth suicide prevention measures. It is absolutely critical that we act immediately to address the growing unmet need for more school-based mental health providers.

That is why I am fighting for the maximum possible funding through the Department of Education for the school-based mental health workforce in the omnibus appropriations package. I am inviting all Members to join this bipartisan effort.

Last month, I was proud to join Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark to introduce the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act to provide consistent, long-term funding to support schools in hiring more school- based mental health providers and meet the recommended student-to- provider ratios.

As we begin another year of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, we must target resources toward supporting the mental health of kids in school. As U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned in his recent advisory on youth mental health: ``It would be a tragedy if we beat back one public health crisis only to allow another to grow in its place.''

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues in both the House and Senate to work together and across the aisle to pass legislation, including a fiscal year 2022 spending package, that makes necessary investments in combating the mental health crisis facing young people.

We must seize this critical opportunity to build better, safer, and more supportive environments for our young people to grow and thrive.

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