Colorado ranks 16th in child well-being, but children still face a pandemic of mental health

DENVER — Colorado ranks 16th in the nation in overall child well-being, according to the 2022 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how children and families are faring. However, children are in the midst of a mental health crisis, struggling with anxiety and depression at unprecedented levels. This year, the annual report focuses on youth mental health, concurring with a recent assessment by the U.S. surgeon general that conditions amount to a youth mental health pandemic. 

The report sheds light on the health struggles, economic hardships and other challenges affecting American children, in addition to describing how those challenges are more likely to affect children of color. Colorado improved on 11 of the 16 indicators of child and family well-being included in this year’s Data Book, with notable improvements in its teen birth rate as well as in the share of children living in high poverty neighborhoods. The report also outlines that in the decade preceding the pandemic, Colorado’s child poverty rate fell by nearly 30% — one of the largest declines in the nation. 

Yet, the state lost ground in other critical areas, including child and teen deaths. Between 2010 and 2020, the mortality rate among Colorado kids ages 1 to 19 increased to 31 deaths per 100,000 children in this age group, up from 25 deaths per 100,000 a decade earlier. This increase was the second-largest in the nation during the time period examined in the report. Although this measure captures deaths due to all causes, Colorado experienced a substantial increase in its youth suicide rate in the years leading up to the pandemic. This trend gravely underscores the need for additional mental health support for our kids and teens. 

“Mental health struggles were increasing among Colorado kids and teens even before the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kelly Causey, president and CEO of the Colorado Children’s Campaign, Colorado’s member of the KIDS COUNT network. “The disruptions that children and families in our state have experienced during the past two years are bound to exacerbate these challenges unless our policymakers invest in the well-being of Colorado kids and their caregivers.” 

The Data Book reports that children across America, and in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia, were more likely to encounter anxiety or depression during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis than previously. The national figure jumped 26%, from 9.4% of children ages 3-17 (5.8 million kids) to 11.8% (7.3 million) between 2016 and 2020, the year COVID-19 swept across the United States. This increase represents 1.5 million more children who are struggling to make it through the day. In Colorado, more than 10% of kids ages 3 to 17 reported experiencing anxiety or depression in 2020, representing more than 109,000 kids who were struggling with their mental health during the first year of the pandemic.