Easter Seals DC MD VA

Children, Youth and Teen Behavioral Health Services at the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals

This goal of this funding is to improve the mental health and wellbeing of at least 50 military-connected children and families by increasing their access to high-quality mental health care. The funding will increase Easterseals’ capacity to meet the mental health needs of military-connected youth by training additional clinicians in evidence-based therapies for children and teens and providing individual and group therapy and psychoeducation to military-connected youth and their families.

Children’s mental health is at a crisis point nationwide. The recently released Youth Risk Behavior Survey found 44 percent of high school students felt persistently sad or hopeless. For children from military and veteran families, these issues can be exacerbated by the unique challenges they face. These include frequent moves, deployments, a parent suffering from combat injuries or illness, and in some cases, the loss of a parent. The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals provides high-quality, accessible behavioral health care to veterans, service members, and their families. The Clinic has seen demand for children’s therapy services increase more than threefold since opening in 2017.