When it comes to kids and mental health, the statistics speak for themselves. One in five children under the age of 18 will face a mental health diagnosis. And yet on average, say experts, it takes 10 to 11 years from symptom onset until a child gets the treatment they need.   

Factor in that half of lifetime mental illness begins at 14, and the bottom line is clear: “We really should be talking more about kids when it comes to mental health,” says Ariana Hoet, PhD, executive clinical director of The Kids Mental Health Foundation. The non-profit organization is dedicated to raising awareness and providing free, science-backed, easy-to-use online resources and tools about children’s mental health in the United States.

With its network of 1,000 healthcare professionals and a passionate team, KMHF has grown into a community of over 25 million people (including  heavy hitting Hollywood supporters like Anne Hathaway and Alexandria Daddario). 

Here, we sit down with Dr. Hoet to chat about the big issues facing children today, from social media to eco-anxiety. Plus, the most powerful ways that parents, teachers and counselors can have an impact right now. 

Q: What was the spark behind The Kids Mental Health Foundation? Why did it start?

In 2018, Nationwide Children’s Hospital received a large donation to fund our new behavioral health pavilion, a nine-story building dedicated to mental health only. As we were preparing to open, we looked around and realized that no one was talking about children's mental health. At the time, we could see the data trending up: there was more depression, more anxiety, more thoughts about suicidal behaviors.

Two years later, the pandemic happened, and society kind of shifted. The conversation went from, ‘Kids have nothing to be sad about, kids don't have anxiety,’ to ‘Oh my gosh, this pandemic is really impacting their mental health.’  It grew from there.

We spun off as our own nonprofit, and now our reach is national.  

In a nutshell, how does KMHF help kids and their families?

Our team is a combination of full-time KMHF staffers, and then there are probably 50 or 60 of us that share a role with the hospital. What we do is translate the science into free, easy-to-understand and applicable tools and skills for adults with kids in their lives. 

At Nationwide Children’s Hospital, we have over 1000 behavioral health professionals. I often tap my colleagues and say, “Hey, I want to talk about this topic. That's your expertise. Can we write something on it?” We have resources for parents, for teachers, for coaches, primary care clinicians—really any adult that interacts with a child. All of our resources are available in English and Spanish.

KMHF aims to weave kids’ mental health into the everyday fabric of a busy life, rather than making it a U-turn in a crisis. Why is that?

We’re talking about positioning mental health and wellness in the same way that adults know to give their kids their veggies and help them get enough sleep and move their bodies for physical health. 

I always tell parents: ‘Start building the habit of conversation with your child before you’re even concerned.’ 

We want adults to have those daily habits, and the tools to support their children’s mental health.

The Kids Mental Health Foundation website offers a trove of free, easy to access articles and tools for parents. Let’s discuss. 

Our website offers resources that are completely free and focused on psychoeducation.   You can search by topic, such as anxiety, grief, social media, sleep. Or, if you just learned about something more specific, like how behavior activation helps protect against depression, you can type that in and learn how to implement those skills in your own home.  

We have a section of downloadable resources for parents. If you’re a coach or teacher, we offer articles that are specific to their role in a child’s life—for instance, there are classroom kits about how to make a trauma-informed classroom.   

What are the top concerns you’re seeing amongst parents or caregivers right now?

Technology. Social media. That's the biggest question, our most visited resource. Our stance at Kids Mental Health Foundation is not “zero technology.” We allow parents to make their decisions, and instead focus on the information. 

We explain what the research is saying about how technology may impact your child's mental health. Here are the pros and cons. And then we really promote tech literacy, which includes teaching your kids how to use it, safety and boundaries,  how to stay involved if a parent does choose to give access.

My goal is for parents to feel like they have access to the research, the knowledge, the education, so that when they're making those parenting decisions, they feel confident.  

Any topics that may be a surprise? For instance, your colleague mentioned a spike during the L.A. wildfires in 2025.

Eco-anxiety is a common theme, and [a good example of how] social media can give kids access to a lot of information that their little brains are not ready to process. We're planning to lean into AI next year, because everyone is getting really nervous about it. 

What are the proactive first steps we can take as parents when it comes to our children’s mental health?

Again, start building the habit of conversation with your child before you're even concerned. KMHF has a lot of resources, like a deck of cards that focus on conversation alone. How do I start a conversation? How do I keep the conversation going? That’s just as important.

Another one I always tell parents: Ask permission. Don't surprise your child with a conversation about something that’s concerning you, or they’ll feel uncomfortable. If they say, “Not right now,” then ask for a time in the very near future, like at dinner, or bedtime. You want to give the child a chance to prepare, and then your job is just about listening. 

You could say, “Tell me more,” or ask: “What do you want to do about it? How can I help you?” But make it about them, not you; and keep it positive.

What if your parental instinct says that something bigger is going on?

If you feel like there is something significant going on, find a mental health professional. Many parents wait to see if things will get better. Nationally, on average, it takes 10 to 11 years from symptom onset until the child gets treatment. And we know, just like with physical health, early intervention is best. 

There are resources on our website to help navigate the mental health system. Answers to questions like, "How do I find a mental health professional? What questions do I ask? What type of therapies are out there?”

We have a lot of answers to the mental health crisis, but they’re buried in peer reviewed journals, or shared at academic conferences that are thousands of dollars to attend.  Our job at Kids Mental Health Foundation is to take those findings, and give them to the community.

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Learn more about Kids Mental Health Foundation and support their work by shopping Baby Cheeks Powder Blush Duo in Fluff and Puff; a portion of the proceeds from every compact goes directly to the nonprofit.