Sen. Katie Britt has helped to draft bipartisan legislation that will address what she calls a “growing youth mental health crisis.”

The new legislation, the Youth Mental Health Research Act, would create a national Youth Mental Health Research Initiative which would strengthen long-term mental health care efforts, improve treatments for children, and also aid those at risk of developing mental health challenges with better targeted preventive interventions.

“As the United States contends with a devastating, growing youth mental health crisis, it is more important now than ever that we take meaningful action to protect our nation’s children,” Britt said. “Last year, one in three high school girls said that they considered suicide, and almost one in 10 high school students reported actually attempting suicide in the previous 12 months. As a mom, I am proud to introduce this legislation that would support critical research and enable evidence-based solutions to this generational challenge.

“I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to preserve the American Dream for generations to come.”

The Youth Mental Health Research Act will:

• Allow the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child
  Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to partner on fundamental and applied research to improve youth mental health;
• Support social, behavioral, cognitive, and developmental research to increase tools to
  identify, support, and best care for young people at-risk and those in crisis;
• Help coordinate research to improve targeting and delivery of mental health interventions in clinical and community settings where young people live, play, work and learn.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.