HPIO Report: Access to MH Care for Ohio Children & Youth

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) has released a new report, “Access to Mental Health Care for Ohio Children & Youth”, highlighting the challenges that continue to persist across the state of Ohio for youth and families seeking to access behavioral health supports.

Many Ohio children and youth are struggling with mental health conditions. Early identification and treatment can keep them on a path toward well-being; however, according to a new analysis from HPIO, families continue to encounter various types of barriers to accessing care. These barriers include workforce challenges and provider shortages, the increasingly high cost of care, and difficulty navigating our complex health and insurance systems.

An interesting finding of the report emphasizes increasing difficulties accessing care, particularly for families with private (i.e., commercial) health insurance. 45% of parents/caregivers with private insurance found it somewhat or very difficult to access care, compared to only 30% with public insurance, highlighting a continued need to try and bring consistency to reimbursement rates across all payor types.

Additional findings included affirmation that MH workforce shortages continue to persist at all levels, especially among clinicians who are trained to care for children with the most intensive needs. In 2025, 75 of Ohio’s 88 counties (or 85.2% of the state) was designated, according to the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), as a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (MHPSA). While this number remains unchanged from 2024 MHPSA data, it is a stark increase from just 2021, where only 76% of the state held this designation. Finally, inconsistent data on MH care access in Ohio, which would allow policymakers to better understand gaps in access and more strategically direct attention ad resources to fill those gaps.

For additional information:

• Click here to read a two-page executive summary of the report.
• Click here to view the full report.