Every year on World Mental Health Day, we’re reminded of a simple truth: mental health is health. Across our nation and around the world, that truth carries a profound urgency – especially for our children and young adults.
The data have been clear for years. The pandemic wasn’t the cause of the youth mental health crisis, but it was the palpable tipping point that brought the crisis acutely into view and made it impossible to ignore. At least one in five youth in the U.S. experiences a mental health challenge, yet fewer than half receive the care they need. Half of all mental health conditions start before age 14, and nearly three-quarters before 25. The global cost of youth mental health challenges now exceeds $350 billion a year.
Most importantly, behind every one of those statistics is someone’s child, sibling, cousin, grandchild, and in so many cases, a student – a story playing out indiscriminately in homes and schools worldwide – burdened by anxiety, depression, or trauma that too often goes unseen.
At Hazel Health, we have always believed that the path forward starts with the systems that already exist in every community – schools, families, providers – and reimagining how and where care is delivered together. For too long, access to care has depended on geography, insurance, or financial means. Our mission has been and always will be to break down those barriers by delivering school-centered care – meeting students and families right where they are, in a place they trust. Hazel was never designed to be a silver bullet. We were built to complement and strengthen – not replace – each community’s existing supports for children.
As a former high school social studies teacher, school administrator, assistant superintendent – and for the last dozen years, a parent of three – I’ve seen firsthand how schools anchor every community. That perspective shaped my belief that schools are the most powerful place to reach children – and the key to building a system where pediatric health is accessible to all. Our goal is not to make schools responsible for necessarily providing care — but to partner with them so families can more easily access services from their providers and health plans.
This foundation of partnership powers our ability to provide immediate access to high-quality mental health assessments, short-term therapy, and coordinated care that bridges families, schools, and healthcare systems. With every session, every connection, and every breakthrough moment, we’re helping students be more present, engaged, and ready to learn in school.
Hazel has grown tremendously in my five years here. Driven by our mission to ensure every child has access to high-quality care, Hazel has provided nearly one million sessions of mental health and physical health services for children across 19 states and 6,200 schools. I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished.
With any complex systemic challenge, we cannot become complacent, and must continue to refine and innovate to meet the continued demands faced by our scale. As such, we are at an inflection point where we are doubling down on our investments in technology, in stronger processes, and in teams with new expertise for the level of scale and impact we aspire to. To be able to make those necessary investments, and to build a more sustainable, scalable model of care, we reorganized ourselves this fall to enable us to really sprint forward to meet the ever burgeoning needs of schools, students, and families. These investments will enable us to expand the services we offer very soon, meeting needs our partners have been asking for for years —like earlier identification and robust coordination of care, psychiatry, care for parents, teachers, and school staff, and more.
Going forward, identifying that we as a nation, and Hazel Health as a partner, are in the early innings of the fight against this generationally-defining youth mental health crisis, we are focused on setting Hazel up to offer more care to more children and families, and to partner with more schools nationwide, with greater agility and innovation, with a foundation of deep organizational strength and stability.
So today on World Mental Health Day, we’re doubling down on our commitment to prioritize access to high quality, evidence-based care for all students, to work closely with our incredible network of partners, and to bolster and expand the services that we bring to youth through collaboration, innovation, and shared purpose for years to come. I cannot wait to share plans with the world about the services and solutions we’ll be launching in 2026!
The challenges facing our communities are real. And I feel so lucky to have the opportunity – and incredible privilege – to build models that close the gaps too many families still face. Having worked with schools and governments here and abroad, I can tell you: our challenges are shared. And our solutions must be, too. Access to care should never depend on luck, privilege, or geography.
Today is a reminder that mental health belongs at the center of every conversation about student success. It’s a call – to educators, clinicians, families, and policymakers – to act with urgency, compassion, and innovation. I am more determined and optimistic than ever that, with thousands of colleagues and partners, we will continue to work together every day to realize a world where every child deserves to be seen, heard, and cared for.
