Child Health and Development Institute authors urge Connecticut to act on known gaps in children’s behavioral health care, including waitlists, shortages and funding needs.
Calls for action on children’s behavioral health
The Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI) says Connecticut’s children’s behavioral health system has been changing since the 1990s through a system of care approach. According to CHDI, that approach emphasizes services that are driven by youth and families, based in communities, coordinated across systems, and culturally appropriate.
In a May 4, 2026 article also published in the CT Mirror’s CT Viewpoints column, CHDI President and CEO Jeff Vanderploeg and Director of System Development and Policy Aleece Kelly write that Connecticut should move urgently to put known solutions into practice.
Progress alongside remaining gaps
CHDI says Connecticut now has a youth mobile crisis system that is among the nation’s best, a broader range of evidence-based services, and stronger links among providers, schools, families, and communities.
At the same time, CHDI says the state has identified continuing system challenges through reports, studies, and plans. Those challenges include long waitlists, clinician shortages, fragmented data, and insufficient funding.
The authors state that Connecticut has developed a deep understanding of both the remaining gaps and promising research-backed solutions. Their article argues that the next step is implementation with urgency.
CHDI’s role in planning
According to CHDI, the organization has worked for more than 25 years with state agencies, policymakers, providers, and family advocates on studies of children’s behavioral health services.
CHDI says the Department of Children and Families commissioned the organization in 2014 to lead development of the Connecticut Children’s Behavioral Health Plan. CHDI describes that plan as part of the state’s legislative response to the Sandy Hook tragedy and says it was designed as a cross-agency effort to better align policy, system infrastructure, and services.
The source article’s headline calls for Connecticut to raise behavioral health rates for children, while the extract emphasizes the broader need to address funding and other long-standing barriers in the system.
What this means for Connecticut patients
For Connecticut families seeking local behavioral health treatment, the source highlights ongoing concerns about waitlists, workforce shortages, and funding. The directory lists 75 published clinics in Connecticut, which may help people identify treatment options locally.
This is general information, not medical advice.
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