Curious about how Rhode Island’s children are doing in 2025? The latest Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook offers a deep dive into the health, education, economic well-being, and mental health of children across the state—spotlighting urgent issues like maternal and infant health, family structure, and behavioral health trends.

This data-driven report is not only a vital tool for policymakers and advocates—it’s a call to action for all of us working toward a more equitable system of care for children and families.

 Read the blog for key highlights and insights.

Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) is a critical Medicaid benefit designed to ensure that children and adolescents from low-income families receive the comprehensive and preventive healthcare they need to grow and thrive.

As detailed in the paper, the phase-out of various funding streams, combined with potential Medicaid changes, threatens to create a “funding cliff” that could severely impact access to behavioral health services for children and adolescents. The findings underscore the urgent need for collaborative, innovative solutions to bridge these gaps.

2025 marks five years since the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented demand for children’s behavioral health and catalyzed huge changes in care delivery.  Halfway through the decade, the world of telehealth, licensure compacts and mental health apps is dramatically different. 

2025 marks five years since the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented demand for children’s behavioral health and catalyzed huge changes in care delivery.  Halfway through the decade, the world of telehealth, licensure compacts and mental health apps is dramatically different. 

The payer-provider relationship can often be fraught with difficulty and distrust, even as mental health parity rules become established. But in Rhode Island, Bradley Hospital and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island are finding common ground through collaboration.  

Discover how Rhode Island's Department of Education, in partnership with Hazel Health, is leading the way in addressing youth mental health by offering free, accessible telehealth services to students statewide. Learn more about this innovative initiative promoting school attendance and student well-being.

To advance equity, states, districts, and schools must serve the whole person and whole community.

If your child breaks their leg, you know you should take them to the emergency room, and that’s usually easy to find. It’s also normally in-network with your insurance. If your child is struggling with anxiety or depression, it’s much harder to find appropriate care in-network with your health insurance. 

Students at all grade levels continue to struggle with learning and behavior in the classroom nearly two years after a frightening pandemic when they did not have the safety, security, and predictability of school every day. The question for educators now: what is the path forward?

In Fairfield County's schools, our students are sending us a message. They aren't asking for more recess; they're pleading for help with their mental health.  It’s clear that the mental well-being of our youth is not just a personal issue but a community priority. 

The historically under-resourced care delivery system in Connecticut raised significant questions about how our state can improve the way we meet the behavioral health needs of young people. 

Hospital, school, and community-based providers all strive to reduce gaps in teen psychiatric care and to improve post-hospitalization outcomes. To achieve this, we first need to understand the challenge and the barriers to successful transitions. Several factors may impede a smooth transition for adolescents and young adults.

Aas we navigate the complexities of supporting our children's social, emotional, and behavioral health, collaboration between districts and community partners becomes paramount

If 2020 was the year that the pandemic catapulted telehealth into the mainstream of healthcare delivery, 2023 was the year that it became the new normal, especially in behavioral healthcare.  But for telehealth, as for other aspects of post-pandemic life, settling into the new normal hasn’t always been easy. 

The current youth mental health crisis among youth has been brewing for decades. Fritz’ article referenced the ‘boarding’ of children in psychiatric distress in hospital emergency rooms, as well as the “lack of access to outpatient child mental health services in the community because of a shortage of providers.” 

Too often, youth experiencing behavioral health crisis face hospitalization or justice system involvement, instead of the home- and community-based services they need to de-escalate and stabilize.

Screening for Anxiety and Depression in Schools: Next Steps. How do we know if our children are struggling?  And what do we do about it if they are?  Since the pandemic shone a light on children and adolescents’ behavioral health, these questions are increasingly urgent for health care providers, educators and policy makers. 

Every child who shows up in the ED in crisis is a sign that we, as a society, have not done enough to support them at other points in their journey. We need to move care away from crowded emergency departments and into homes, schools and communities, with a focus on prevention.