The pandemic has had a significant impact on young kids' mental health and due to long-standing treatment disparities, the mental and emotional recovery for kids of color may be more difficult than for their white counterparts.

A report from Mental Health America (MHA) found white children with depression were more likely to receive specific mental-health counseling. Students of color, meanwhile, typically either receive no counseling or "non-specialty mental health services."

Dr. Asha Patton-Smith, a child/adolescent psychiatrist with the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, said it is up to parents and caregivers to start the mental health conversation with their children.

"What I like is really open-ended questions," Patton-Smith suggested. "Just saying, 'Hey, you know, I was just noticing you seem a little more isolated than usual. Tell me what's going on.' The more open-ended, the more you'll get a response."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise building community connections as a way to combat mental-health issues. The Center also recommends schools link students to mental-health services, integrate social and emotional learning and review discipline policies to ensure equitable treatment.

The MHA report noted depression rates are highest among multiracial youths, sitting about 4% higher than the average. Patton-Smith said allowing treatment disparities to persist, and leaving mental-health issues untreated, can have long-lasting impacts.

"It increases the likelihood of other mental-health disorders developing," Patton-Smith emphasized. "Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, untreated post-traumatic stress disorder. It can increase the likelihood of suicidal ideation or death by suicide."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of all high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019, a pre-pandemic statistic which was already up 40% from 2009. Patton-Smith added Black children and young adults of color also may face entrenched social stigmas around mental health.

"In the African American community and the Latinx community, we still have a long way to go," Patton-Smith contended. "There's still challenges in understanding that depression, anxiety and mood issues are not character flaws, they're not personal weaknesses."

She added combating the stigma begins with conversations about mental health in churches and schools, where having a person of color involved in the conversation as a counselor or mental-health expert is critical.

Summer day camps are a welcome break for kids and parents when the school year ends. One camp wants to make activities such as craft making, conducting science experiments, playing games and sports much more enjoyable for all camp participants. New Hope of Indiana's Camp Catalyst is an inclusive camp for kids ages 9 through 13 who may or may not have a disability.

Amanda Boyd, manager of achieving inclusion and meeting with New Hope of Indiana's Camp Catalyst, said the camp encourages interaction, independence, competence and productivity.

"Inclusive camps are few and far between, and we're hoping that this experience will help children redefine what it means to have a disability, or to be a friend to somebody that has a disability," she said.

The camp is in its second year and is led by a certified recreation therapist and New Hope's trained staff and volunteers. Boyd said the camp strives to create a community where all kids feel a sense of belonging. According to the American Camp Association, each summer more than 14 million children and adults take advantage of the camp experience.

In a 2016 Camper Enrollment Survey, approximately 80% of responding camps reported the same or higher enrollment than in previous summers. Female campers account for 56% of total enrollment while male campers account for 49%. The most popular session length is one week or less, although the majority of independent camp operators offer four, six and eight week sessions. Approximately 26% of camps serve youths who are transgender and nearly 58% of camps serve youths who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

A disability or impairment may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or a combination, and either are evident at birth or occur at some point during a person's lifetime. According to Pacer's National Bullying Prevention Center, children with disabilities are often the target of harassment at school and were two to three times more likely to be bullied than their nondisabled peers. The response from camp attendees has been positive and the children who attend often build lasting friendships, Boyd said.

"We had a couple of campers that gave us some feedback that really expressed how eye-opening it was to be with peers of different skill levels and how meaningful it was to them to see all of the wonderful, personality traits and skills that other people have," she explained.

The center defines bullying as unwelcome conduct, including verbal abuse such as name-calling, epithets or slurs, graphic or written statements, threats. physical assault, or other conduct that may be physically threatening, harmful or humiliating.

A few years ago, Minnesota launched a pilot program to give communities of color more power to improve outcomes for child development as they continue to address long-standing disparities. Supporters hope for robust support as lawmakers decide on extending funding.

At this stage of the Legislative session, larger spending bills do include additional support for the Community Solutions for Healthy Child Development Grants. An example of the support being used is child care training to better serve Latino families.

Dianne Haulcy, co-chair of the Voices and Choices for Children coalition, a key coalition backing the grant initiative, said they have been seeing overwhelming demand as the first wave of funding expires.

"In this day and age, especially post-COVID, and a lot of the racial reckoning and not to mention the violence that's been happening in our communities," Haulcy noted. "Our communities of color are in desperate need of being resourced."

One spending bill includes $8 million for the program, while another sets aside $10 million for the biennium. Advocates argued the higher level would make a big difference given the need and the requests for aid.

Even with a large surplus, it's unclear if the full amount would be approved with many other funding requests before lawmakers.

In the long run, Haulcy pointed out having permanent funding will give communities greater flexibility to decide how to approach child development issues, especially since they already know what the challenges are within in their areas.

"Oftentimes, there are community and cultural solutions to these that only come from the community," Haulcy noted.

She suggested the model will go a long way in closing opportunity and achievement gaps while making communities stronger. Nearly two dozen local-level organizations were awarded grants during the pilot phase of the program.


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Georgia's food banks are taking action to address the growing demand for their services ahead of summer break.

Frank Sheppard, Feeding the Valley Food Bank's President and CEO, said many families throughout their 18-county service area have yet to recover from financial hardships caused by the pandemic and inflation. He added families are still in need of assistance one year after the pandemic food benefits have ended. As schools close for the summer, the food bank is proactively preparing to support families.

"We projected on average that 2,000 meals a day in the school year will become about 12,000 meals a day during summer," he explained. "So there are a lot of kids that we are going to see two and three times a day. So, it's a lot more kids from about 2,000 to 5,000."

Sheppard added Feeding the Valley Food Bank will increase the number of locations it serves to approximately 43 sites and expand its current Kids Café program to provide multiple meals to children for ten weeks.

Increased need means that many food banks need additional labor, and it is an area that has also failed to rebound since the pandemic, he said.

"Some groups are still reluctant to volunteer at the level they were pre-pandemic. We definitely continue to need volunteers," Sheppard said. "We're not back to the level we were pre-pandemic and continue to need more volunteer assistance."

The Feeding America network reports that approximately 1 in 8 Georgian children faces food insecurity. Nearly 50% of households receiving SNAP benefits have children.


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