Children's Hospital Colorado declared a pediatric mental health state of emergency this week based on increased demand for behavioral health services over the past several months. 

Department of Psychiatry faculty member and Pediatric Mental Health Institute (PMHI) clinician Jenna Glover, PhD attributed the crisis to the long-term and ongoing stresses of COVID-19. 

In an article published by KRCC on May 25, 2021, Glover says, "Despite things getting better in terms of COVID, kids have dealt with chronic stress for the past year that has interrupted their development. Now kids are asked to be starting back into life again, they don't have the resources to do that, they're burnt out and they feel so behind they don't know how to catch up."

According to Children's Hospital Colorado, there were 90% more youth behavioral health visits to emergency departments across the hospital system in April 2021 than in April 2019. 

Read the full KRCC article for more on the pediatric mental health state of emergency.