By Richard Zhang, MD, MA, and the Work and Organizations Committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry

Every working adult was once a playing child. Coping mechanisms and how one adapts to employment can be traced back to early experiences. Yet, recent cuts in hundreds of billions of dollars to Medicaid put access to mental health care for children at risk. Cuts to Medicaid, the largest payer for children’s mental health services, are harmful to implement at a time of crisis for youth mental health. They can also adversely affect the future workforce.

There are four principal ways in which support for child psychiatry can now lead to a healthier, resilient, and prosperous future workforce:

Child psychiatry is, in many ways, preventative psychiatry. Treatments address ongoing behavioral and emotional symptoms but also set lasting trajectories for more effective functioning. Whether educating a new parent about their infant’s attachment style or carefully prescribing medication to a teenager experiencing psychosis, early-stage psychiatric interventions offer societal benefits that can last for decades. A child who is effectively treated now can be expected to have greater resilience and fewer health care needs in the future.

Higher educational attainment is associated with higher lifetime earnings.........

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