CHILD MIND INSTITUTE INC

The Child Mind Institute envisions a world where no child or adolescent struggles with a mental health or learning disorder; where evidence-based mental health care is available to all children; where the diagnosis and treatment of mental health and learning disorders are more objective and effective due to better biological tests; and where all parents, caregivers and child-serving professionals have access to the resources, information and support they need to promote children's healthy emotional and behavioral development, and know how to identify problems and intervene early, when treatment is proven most effective, thereby helping all children reach their full potential.

At the Child Mind Institute, we focus our efforts on children because childhood is when mental health and learning disorders first appear – 75% before age 24. We have three main strategies for achieving our mission and vision:

1) Delivering Care: We provide the highest quality evidence-based care, tailored to the unique needs of each child. Child Mind Institute clinicians are seeing children more frequently, treating them more efficiently, and using highly specialized behavioral approaches that are proven effective in reducing symptoms and improving the quality of life for children struggling with mental health and learning disorders. By providing services in schools in underserved communities with limited access to evidence-based mental health care, we can reach even more vulnerable children who would otherwise struggle to receive the care that they need.

2) Accelerating Discovery: We are advancing the science of the developing brain by using innovative technologies and a big data/open science paradigm to accelerate discovery. By compiling the largest data resource on the developing brain anywhere, and making this data available to multi-disciplinary scientists all over the world, we are expediting discoveries of the biological markers of mental illness. Together with our innovative technologies, these breakthroughs will lead to the development of objective measures to diagnose, track, and treat child mental health and learning disorders.

3) Empowering Change: We are reducing the stigma and misinformation that cause so many children to miss out on life-changing treatment through our public education programs. Our website, childmind.org, serves as a comprehensive online resource where parents and professionals can find scientifically sound information on child and adolescent mental health. The site houses a Symptom Checker, A-to-Z Disorder Guide, Trauma Guides translated into 10 languages, and articles and videos on hot-topic parenting issues (many of which are available in Spanish). Additionally, our annual month-long awareness campaign in May engages stakeholders through a variety of events and digital campaigns to reduce the stigma associated with mental health, going hand in hand with the efforts of the Adam Katz Memorial Conversation, On the Shoulders of Giants Symposium, and Project UROK, which engage mental health professionals, researchers, celebrities, adolescents and families in a larger conversation about mental health.

Founded in 2009, the Child Mind Institute has grown tremendously in its short history, touching the lives of millions of children, youth and families in New York City, across the nation and around the world. Our high-quality, innovative services founded on evidence-based practices, our ambitious, competent leadership and dedicated teams, and ongoing philanthropic support have enabled the Child Mind Institute to grow rapidly to meet the demands of families in New York City and across the country, while also pushing innovation in the field of child mental health research and public education. As a result of our sound, strategic planning and organizational successes to date, we expect to continue serving thousands of children, parents and professionals directly each year, while also laying the foundation in research and treatment innovation to benefit millions of children in the years to come.

1) Access to Care: As a testament to our exceptional clinical services, our clinicians have seen more than 12,500 patients from 48 states and 44 nations from 2010 to 2022. Our clinicians have worked in more than 100 schools and organizations throughout New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Newark, New Jersey, and Baltimore, Maryland, providing mental health workshops, training and classroom coaching to thousands of teachers, parents and other professionals, imparting skills to promote good mental health and positive behavior. We have also provided workshops and treatment to over 27,000 children in the community as of February 2022, and indirectly benefited several thousand additional students by educating and training teachers and parents. We have disseminated vitally-needed resources to all 1,800+ NYC DOE schools. Despite these accomplishments, there are still many more children in New York City and beyond who are struggling with mental health and learning disorders and desperately need high-quality evidence-based mental health support. As students and educators face the challenges brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, we have expanded care across the country through digital trainings and workshops.

2) Accelerating Discovery: Our open science/big data approach to research has captured global attention with thousands of researchers in more than 3,300 cities worldwide accessing our shared data sets, leading to over 1,200 published articles. Launched in 2015, the Healthy Brain Network is proving to be an extraordinary success. With more than 5,300 children enrolled or participating, over 3,900 of whom have completed the study, and 711 children on the waitlist (unheard of in research) as of February 2022, the initiative is gaining the attention and praise of federal agencies and the international research community. When complete, HBN will offer the largest, most comprehensive data resource for childhood mental health disorders anywhere, leading to transformative change in the way clinicians test, diagnose and treat mental health and learning disorders.

3) Empowering Change: Since the launch of childmind.org nine years ago, we have received 87 million visits from people seeking dependable, up-to-date information on child mental health and learning disorders. Our public education campaigns typically attract hundreds of attendees, while engaging millions more families and professionals through social media and online streaming events. Over five years, our Mental Health Awareness Month initiatives generated 16.5 billion media impressions. Our public education efforts will continue to reach out to families, child-serving professionals, and policymakers with the vital information needed to eliminate the stigma associated with child mental health and learning disorders, and to advocate for early intervention and care.