Summary

Published Date: November 14, 2023

Summary: The past several decades have seen remarkable improvements in several major public health issues affecting young people: smoking rates are down, traffic crash fatalities have declined, and other unintentional injuries have declined in number. Yet, similar successes have not been replicated in mental health. Why are we, as a society, failing to make needed investments in children's mental health? How can we ensure that programs with the highest levels of evidence and economic returns reach a larger fraction of the young people and families who could benefit from them?

"Investing in Children's Mental Health" by Daniel Eisenberg and Ramesh Raghavan investigates and addresses three interrelated questions:

  • 1) What are some of the best available investments to improve the mental health of children and adolescents in the United States? 
  • 2) To what extent are these investments being made? 3) What can practitioners, child-serving organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders do to promote such investments?

After synthesizing the latest research and evidence, the authors introduce a series of case studies featuring interventions and programs from a variety of settings and age groups, then distill key themes and offer recommendations for a range of stakeholders including policymakers, administrators, funders, and practitioners.

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