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The Center for Rural Policy and Development recently released a new report on youth mental health, highlighting the challenges and needs for addressing mental health treatment. 

A group of experts and student representatives discussed what parents can do to help youth get the support needed to better recognize a child’s needs and provide resources to connect them with mental health support, especially in parts of the state where there may not be providers. 

The Minnesota Department of Health said 89 percent of rural physicians are providing some type of mental health services. The report also noted that in some cases behavioral health is integrated into primary care clinic settings. It’s meant to lessen wait times for screenings, with the appointment turning into a referral over to a behavioral health provider. 

However, there are also gaps in coverage. Marnie Werner, vice president of research at the Center for Rural Policy and Development, said during the panel that there’s a shortage of mental health providers in rural communities. 

“The mental health system is fragmented, especially for kids and especially in rural areas,” Werner said. “We know there’s a problem with children’s mental health. It’s been deteriorating for at least 10 to 15 years.”

There are challenges with recruiting people into the mental health profession and also getting licensing after graduation. Werner said while rural and urban areas face similar problems, it’s often more pronounced in rural settings. She also advised that while the landscape for the lack of resources seemed bleak, there are strategies for parents to help their youth with whatever they do have available to them. 

This includes educating themselves on mental health, consulting with a primary care physician and seeking out any school-linked mental health services in their area. 

“The earlier they can get on it the better,” Werner said. “Mental health issues and illnesses only escalate the longer they’re untreated.”

In southern Minnesota, Mankato Area Public Schools started housing a Youth Mental Health Navigator program — with the Greater Mankato Area United Way — during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then the nonprofit worked with the South Central Service Cooperative to add more districts into its service area. 

Panelists talked about a potential link between social media use and declining mental health, and whether parents should consider how much access children should have. 

Pediatric psychologist Sara Gonzalez at Children’s Minnesota said there’s not a specific age where it’s appropriate to have a smartphone, but parents should be mindful about the quality of screen time and how long a child uses it. 

Burnsville High School junior Feven Tesfaye and a representative on the Minnesota Youth Council said a lot of the teens growing up during the digital age are finding most of their social interactions online and could feel left out if completely banned from social media. She recommended that parents teach best practices with their child and navigate the internet safely and responsibly. 

“I think there are some students, or some young people who can handle social media very well because at a young age, they were taught the good things about the digital space and then the bad things,” Tesfaye said. “But on the other hand, there are other students who have never heard of good habits when going on social media platforms, and that negativity and the relationship with social media greatly impacts their mental health as well.”

Sue Abderholden, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness–Minnesota, said there’s pros and cons to social media for youth. While bullying can follow the student home from school, it can also serve as a connection for marginalized groups like LGBTQ+ youth who may seek to be a part of a community they don’t feel like they have within a rural place. 

Recent cell phone ban policies also mentioned by the panelists. Montevideo Public Schools superintendent Wade McKittrick said students sometimes became too dependent on technology for finding answers right at their fingertips, rather than building confidence in learning how to research themselves. 

“When kids are trying to learn how to navigate life, adversity [and] experiences, having a parent immediately accessible to them at all times to answer the question and give them the solution, it eliminates the space for kids to wrestle that situation themselves,” McKittrick added. He believes the cell phone bans have been mostly positive. 

Abderholden also noted that for parents, it’s important to address their own mental health needs. While it may be tempting to try and reach out to their kids in school and help them navigate school, the social stressors now are completely different than it was decades ago. 

“They might feel ill equipped to really support their child. So it definitely has an impact,” she said. “We need to take care of our own mental health. It's that old you put the oxygen mask on yourself first, right? You need to be able to do that in order to help your children grow and develop.”

The Center for Rural Policy and Development plans to continue researching youth mental health in the next coming years. 

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Hannah Yang

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The Minnesota Department of Health said 89 percent of rural physicians are providing some type of mental health services. The report also noted that in some cases behavioral health is integrated into primary care clinic settings. However, there are also gaps in coverage. 

John Marshall High School educator Shane Hewitt

Youth Mental Health panel talks cell phone bans, rural needs

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