By Children’s Hospital of Colorado and Healthier Colorado have teamed up together to launch an initiative aimed at addressing an area of significant concern in Colorado, impacting people in all areas of the state. “Mind Our Future Colorado” has also called on Colorado’s gubernatorial candidates to commit to bold, comprehensive solutions to address Colorado’s child and youth mental health crisis and to ensure youth mental health is a top priority in the 2026 gubernatorial race and beyond.
The initiative was born out of a need that has been ignored for too long as the lack of mental health services for the state’s younger population has been described as reaching “crisis level”.
Colorado’s children and youth face a mental health crisis that cannot be ignored. The state ranks 41st in the nation for youth mental health, and suicide remains a leading cause of death for Colorado youth under 18. With federal funding for children’s mental health programs fading, critical services are increasingly at risk.
In 2025, Children’s Colorado experts cared for more than 14,400 pediatric patients who received mental health treatment within the integrated System of Care (inpatient, partial hospitalization, outpatient, etc.). The number of visits increased 6% compared to 2024, which reflects what Children’s Colorado experts were anecdotally experiencing during the summer 2025.
When compared to other states, Colorado falls in the bottom half, ranking 41st in youth mental health. According to data from Children’s Hospital, suicide remains a leading cause of death for Colorado youth under the age of 18.
With the budget cuts enacted with passage of H.R. 1 and a decrease in funding for children’s mental health programs, critical services are more and more at risk at a time when they are in greater and greater demand.
In 2025, Children’s Colorado experts cared for more than 14,400 pediatric patients who received mental health treatment within the integrated System of Care (inpatient, partial hospitalization, outpatient, etc.), an increase of 6% in the number of visits in 2024.
But the summer of 2025 was the moment that grabbed people’s attention.
Last summer, between June and July, Children’s Hospital Colorado reported a 26% uptick in children showing up at the emergency department because of mental health challenges. That followed the four preceding years when kids needing inpatient care jumped more than 55% from 2020 to 2024.
After reaching an all-time high during the height of the pandemic, more recent data collected by Children’s shows a decrease in the number of youth under 18 committing suicide. But all things are relative, and within several years, the number plateaued out at pre-pandemic levels, which were already of great concern.
All the data collected by Children’s Hospital essentially confirms what many in communities across the state, including rural communities like the San Luis Valley, have instinctively known for a long time.
Youth in Colorado are experiencing trouble with their mental health and need more help than is available.
According to the Colorado Health Institute’s report, Youth Mental Health in Colorado: State Outcomes, Policies, and Investments in the Past Decade, more than one in seven young Coloradans reported poor mental health in 2025. The 2025 Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS) found that 14% of Coloradans 21 and under report poor mental health, defined as eight or more days of poor mental health in the past month.
Data from both the CHAS and 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey show rates are highest among adolescents, with 26% of high school students and 24% of middle school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
And rural communities face major barriers to mental health care, including severe workforce shortages, longer appointment wait times and fewer options for mental health services. In 2023, rates of suicide among youth ages 10 to 24 in rural parts of Colorado were 35% higher than the state average.
In the San Luis Valley, CHAS found that 22.2% of youth reported eight days or more of poor mental health in the last month alone, a third more than what was reported statewide.
Among San Luis Valley youth, 16.6% said they needed mental health services but couldn’t get access compared to 12% statewide. In the Valley, two reasons ranked highest for no access – not being able to get an appointment and not being able to afford the cost.
In short, youth mental health is at a crisis level across the state but rural communities, like the Valley, are not only hit especially hard but services are increasingly unavailable.
“90% of Colorado voters agree: we are in a youth mental health crisis,” said Joshua Ewing, Executive Director of Healthier Colorado. “Families have been carrying this burden for too long. We need our next governor, regardless of party, to walk into office on day one with a clear, actionable plan to support kids and families. This can’t be another campaign promise. It must be a governing priority.”
“Since declaring a state of emergency for youth mental health in 2021, we have seen the powerful change that can happen when Colorado leaders listen to the perspectives of families and young people and work to create solutions together” said Ron-Li Liaw, MD, Mental Health In-Chief at Children’s Colorado. “Sustained progress will require the partnership of many organizations and state leaders advocating on behalf of children and youth, who don’t have the ability to vote themselves.
“This coalition brings together the voices of families and young people who want to help shape the mental health supports, systems, programs and policies our youth desperately need. I am hopeful for the future of Colorado and the mental health system that will be realized through this collective action.”
