CCRB presents needs assessment showing rising youth self-harm, wide service reach

Melinda McElhinney, executive director of the Community and Children’s Resource Board (CCRB) of St. Charles County, presented the board’s 2023 community needs assessment to the County Council on June 9, outlining program reach, funding levels and emerging mental-health concerns for youth.

The CCRB, a political subdivision created by county voters in 2004 and funded by an eighth-cent sales tax, plans to invest up to $15.5 million this year across 69 programs at 38 agencies to provide prevention, crisis stabilization, early intervention and treatment for residents age 19 and younger, their caregivers and professionals who serve children.

The needs assessment shows the CCRB-funded network has wide reach: programs reported serving more than 100,000 youth in 2023, plus roughly 5,000 parents and 2,500 professionals. McElhinney told the council that 81 percent of school-age children in the county received at least one CCRB-funded prevention service and that 12.5 percent of youth received a CCRB-funded direct service.

However, the report also flagged concerning trends. McElhinney said rates of youth self-injury rose from about 11 percent in 2012 to roughly 21.5 percent in 2022, and that youth suicide rates have increased about 13 percent since 2003. In 2022, 9 percent of surveyed youth reported planning a suicide attempt in the past year and 13 percent said they had seriously considered one.

The needs assessment identified additional pressures on families and providers: nearly half of county renters—about 50 percent in 2022—spent 30 percent or more of household income on housing, a common predictor of housing instability; student attendance has been declining since 2011; juvenile violent offenses showed an uptick since 2019; and providers reported higher client acuity, staff turnover and burnout.

McElhinney said the CCRB will continue funding across the care continuum and plans to convene community stakeholders to discuss proactive responses to those emerging needs. She directed council members and the public to the CCRB website for the full needs-assessment reports and said the board provided council members with an executive summary.

Council members thanked McElhinney for the presentation. The CCRB materials distributed at the meeting include four reports ranging from an in-depth data analysis to a brief executive summary, the executive director said.

The CCRB presentation is intended to inform county leaders’ planning and to encourage local coordination on behavioral-health, housing and related services for children and families.