What if we stopped waiting for children to reach a breaking point before helping them?

Across PA, families and schools are seeing the signs of children and teens struggling with their mental wellness, but too often, support

doesn’t come until things get worse. In fact, most young people in PA who died by suicide never received any mental health support.

Kids want help – they ask for it all the time – but it’s not available where they are and when they need it.

But good things are happening in Philadelphia. Over the past two decades, the School District of Philadelphia and Community Behavioral Health have built one of the most comprehensive school-based mental health systems in the state, bringing prevention, early support, and clinical care directly to school district students.

A new report from the Strong Minds, Bright Futures partnership, Building Care Where Students Learn: Philadelphia’s School-Based Mental Health System and the Case for Reform, shows howd this novel but commonsense approach has made a world of difference for children and teens.

Through programs like Student Therapeutic Services (STS), the Support Team for Educational Partnership (STEP), and Intensive Behavioral Health Services (IBHS), students can access care sooner and at school. This means families don’t have to navigate the system alone, schools aren’t left without support, and young people are more likely to get help before challenges escalate.

Philadelphia’s system didn’t just happen overnight. It took not just the will to create individual programs, but the vision to weave these programs into a cohesive and coordinated system. And today that system is making a difference.

With these supports, students are more likely to stay engaged, get help earlier, and avoid more intensive interventions. In fact, Philadelphia has seen a 78% reduction in psychiatric residential treatment facility placements, a sign that fewer young people are reaching the point of crisis.

But in Philadelphia, there’s still room to grow. Too few schools have access to these programs, and many of the services that make it work – like  coordination, prevention, and family engagement – are not currently sustainably funded.

As a founding member of the Strong Minds, Bright Futures Partnership, Children First is working to strengthen Philadelphia’s successful approach and assist other PA communities to develop successful programs tailored to their needs.

Visit https://strongmindspa.org/ to learn more and connect with their work because every child, no matter where they live, deserve the services they need when and where they need them.

Virginia just became the 15th state with paid family leave – let’s make PA the 16th!

The House passed a paid leave bill so now is the time to tell your state senator to vote to support the four million PA workers who don’t have paid leave. Click here.

RFK, Jr. testified before the Senate Finance Committee that he supports the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, noting that it is 97% effective in preventing measles. But when asked about last year’s record number of children dying from the flu in modern history, Kennedy argued against flu vaccine effectiveness, even though 89% of the kids who died from the flu were not fully vaccinated.

Last week to get your ticket!

Join us as we toast Donna Cooper, the 2026 Champion for Children, for her 13 years of leadership at Children First! Unlike our previous celebrations, this party is going to be short on program with lots of time to network and have fun! Wear your comfy dancing shoes and plan to party the night away with us. Oh, did we mention a surprise guest or two? Get your tix today at www.childrenfirstpa.org/2026Celebration 

The U.S. Army is improving pay and benefits for child care providers to increase staffing levels.

“Through a more-robust compensatory, hiring and employee benefits strategy, we will ensure that our [child development centers] are sufficiently staffed to better benefit our Army families.”