Five years ago this month, Children’s Hospital Colorado took an unprecedented step: declaring a first-in-the-nation state of emergency for youth mental health.
Emergency rooms were overwhelmed with kids in crisis. Schools struggled to support students who were falling behind academically while battling isolation and anxiety during the pandemic. Families were left to navigate a fragmented system on their own, searching for help that was often out of reach.
Five years later, despite some progress, the unfortunate reality is the youth mental health crisis and urgency for action remains. According to a recent Youth Mental Health Snapshot by the Colorado Health Institute, rates of poor mental health among adolescents ages 12 to 17 declined to 12% in 2025 from 23% in 2023 — but overall, we continue to see troubling trends.
Rates of poor mental health among school-age children have more than tripled over the past decade. Suicide remains a leading cause of death for young Coloradans, and younger children, including those under 12, are showing increased signs of struggle.
The drivers are complex, but the patterns are clear. Our young people are more isolated than ever. They spend an average of nearly four hours a day on social media, where 1 in 4 teens say these platforms make them feel worse about their own lives and nearly two-thirds report regular exposure to hate-based content.
Meanwhile, workforce shortages are making it even more challenging to support these kids, with a projected shortfall of 4,400 mental health providers in Colorado. This means when a child needs support, there’s often no pediatric expert to turn to.
This is why Children’s Hospital Colorado and Healthier Colorado joined forces to launch Mind Our Future Colorado, a nonpartisan statewide initiative to elevate child and youth mental health in the 2026 gubernatorial election. Nearly 70 healthcare organizations, advocates and community voices have joined the coalition to demand action from Colorado’s next governor.
To support this initiative, Children’s Hospital Colorado and Healthier Colorado released a policy playbook informed by coalition partners and voices across the state. The playbook charts sustainable, innovative strategies achievable within a governor’s term, focusing on three foundational areas:
- Reaching every family who needs support, starting by building the foundation of strong mental health in the early years, integrating mental health into convenient community settings and creating more workable solutions for the state’s highest-need youth, all supported by the right workforce.
- Fixing the bureaucracy with greater accountability, better multiagency coordination and creative funding options including public-private partnerships.
- Empowering young Coloradans to navigate a digital world by regulating social media companies that target young people, limiting cellphones in schools and ensuring that the technology platforms causing harm are also funding the solutions.
We ask every voter in Colorado to consider the stakes. This crisis doesn’t just impact our young people: It ripples into classrooms, families, businesses and communities. When children struggle, parents miss work, educators burn out and emergency rooms must absorb what prevention and early intervention could have addressed.
Investing in youth mental health builds healthier communities, reduces strain on public systems and helps kids thrive in environments where they feel connected, protected and supported.
This is not an impossible crisis. Colorado youth are already compassionate, creative, resilient and full of potential. The state’s challenges are solvable. When we come together and elect leaders ready to champion these reforms, we know that we will see meaningful change.
Colorado stands at an inflection point. If we fail to take bold action now, we risk losing a generation to challenges we have the power to fix. The next governor will inherit both complex problems and immense opportunities.
With the right priorities, accountability and commitment to prioritizing the well-being of our youth, Colorado can become a national leader in supporting young people’s mental health. It’s time to mind our future: to evolve beyond a state of emergency into a state of opportunity where every young person can thrive.
Jena Hausmann, of Denver, is president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Joshua Ewing, of Denver is executive director of Healthier Colorado.
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