Last week, three youth health agencies, American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association, declared a state of national emergency in child and adolescent mental health. Several health tech companies and GDBHT partners came together to inspire a call to action. 

The declaration addressed the upward trend of mental health concerns for youth. It alarmingly noted suicide as the 2nd leading cause of death for 18-24 year-olds in 2018. Given the effects of COVID-19 and racial injustice over the past two years, the mental health of our youth has only worsened--disproportionately affecting youth of color. The industry cannot keep up with the elevated demand for mental health services. Youth are waiting weeks, or even months, to access the care that they need. The children who may have waited to seek care until they absolutely needed it now have to wait even longer. This can be an incredibly frustrating process for families who are already suffering.

This state of national emergency is a call to action and advocacy for crucial changes to address these issues and provide solutions to our youth. We believe technology will support the ability to  address youth mental health in a more scalable way, and we’re proud to have some amazing innovators in our network. Learn more about some of our newest and existing GDBHT partners tackling these issues below:

BeMe Health, a digital behavioral health platform built specifically for teens, today announced that it has secured $7M in seed financing and partnerships with leading commercial and Medicaid healthcare payors to transform behavioral health for teens. Backed by Polaris Partners and Flare Capital Partners, the funding will be used to help accelerate and scale operations around BeMe’s unique tech-enabled approach to teen mental health. Board members and advisors also include Alexandra Cantley, Partner of Polaris Partners; Bill Geary, Partner and Cofounder of Flare Capital; Carolyn Magill, CEO of Aetion, Inc. and me! 

Bend Health is a new healthcare company launched to increase access and reduce the cost of expert mental health care for families. It is revolutionizing the treatment of mental health conditions for kids and teens through a novel data-driven technology platform and evidence-based care model that enables the first scalable and integrated care solution in mental health. They’re also one of the few mental health providers who enable access to high quality teen and child psychiatrists within 48-hours or less through a clinically-validated collaborative care model (CoCM).

Brightline is the first full-family behavioral health solution built specifically to care for kids, teens, and parents across a range of common family challenges. With multidisciplinary care teams, personalized family system care, evidence-based care delivery, and extraordinary technology, Brightline is able to support families with whatever challenges they’re facing and ultimately help them thrive long-term. They recently announced a new partnership with another GDBHT partner, Violet, as part of their ongoing commitment to continue delivering inclusive care for the many communities it serves.

Hazel Health is the largest telehealth provider for K-12 schools, partners with school nurses, counselors, parents, and local providers to bring high-quality whole child health care to every student. Nearly 2 million students use Hazel for fast access to equitable physical and mental health care. Recently, they announced the addition of Dr. Travis Gayles as Chief Health Officer, Andrew Post as Chief Innovation Officer, and the promotion of Jeannie Chen to Chief Clinical Operations Officer, furthering the company's commitment to transforming access to quality healthcare for all. 

Headspace Health - Earlier this summer, on-demand mental health care startup Ginger (now Headspace Health) had announced their new offering for adolescents ages 13-17, “Ginger for Teens.” Teens who are dependents of Ginger-eligible employees can gain access to text-based coaching, self-care resources, and if needed, twelve video-based therapy and psychiatry sessions at no cost via smartphone. 

Holmusk - a leading global data science and health technology company building the world’s largest Real-World Evidence (RWE) platform for behavioral health, announced its abstract was published as part of the Proceedings of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) 68th Annual Meeting. AACAP’s Annual Meeting is the world’s premier gathering of child and adolescent psychiatrists. They stated that their results generated new insights that can inform policies and guidelines around the practice of polypharmacy for individuals with ADHD.

Hopelab is building a road map to deliver hope for the next generation through targeted social impact investments, translational research, and advisory services that focus on advancing solutions for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth mental health. A few months ago, Hopelab announced an external investment initiative, Hopelab Ventures, a commitment to partner with innovators who advance the well-being of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth.

For people who have a child or loved one struggling with OCD or disorders related to OCD, like Hoarding, Tics, or Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, it can be difficult to navigate. NOCD offers specialized OCD treatment, for people ages 5 and up, through live face-to-face video therapy sessions with licensed therapists. All NOCD therapists are trained in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy - the gold standard OCD treatment - and members receive support between sessions through the NOCD platform. In addition to our live face-to-face video therapy sessions, NOCD also offers educational resources and guidance through sessions designed for family members, caregivers, and friends of those with OCD and related conditions. These sessions help them support their loved ones in their progress and provide guidance on how to assist them through difficult situations.

Telosity by Vinaj Ventures invests in companies addressing gaps in care by developing affordable and scalable solutions to support youth mental well-being. They recently published some research revealing Gen Z is leading the charge to change society’s perception and approach to mental health challenges.

Log into our library to watch the entire Going Digital: Behavioral Health Tech youth track here for free.