New York advocates want the state to invest more in youth mental health.
The proposed 2027 budget addresses families’ needs with universal child care and an expanded child tax credit but lacks funds to fill gaps from federal health care cuts. Reports show the state’s youth mental health services fail to sufficiently prioritize early intervention for behavioral health issues in kids.
Sabah Merchant, senior policy analyst for the Children’s Defense Fund of New York, described what is needed to aid youth mental health in the state.
“Community-based organizations that will equip students and schools with robust mental health resources and also having directly Medicaid-based behavioral resources within schools,” Merchant outlined.
Aside from federal funding challenges, there have been state issues in garnering more youth mental health services. She pointed out much of this comes down to funding and access to services. Studies from the Youth-N-Power Collective and the city’s Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence find unconditional cash grants for young people aging out of foster care allowed them to improve their mental and physical health.
Federal uncertainty makes addressing youth mental health more challenging. The U.S. Department of Education cut $1 billion in grants for this purpose in 2025, though New York Attorney General Letitia James and 15 other states sued the administration to restore the funding. Only $19 million in previously-approved funding was restored.
Merchant argued without this money, kids could regress to the pandemic days, leading to a resurgent youth mental health crisis.
“It took children years, I think, to bounce back from everything that they had to undergo during the pandemic,” Merchant pointed out. “Whether it was economically related, socially related, health related; all those factors contribute to mental health.”
The Trump Administration has kept at it, attempting to cancel $2 billion in grants for mental health services earlier this month but they were quickly reinstated.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.