For the New York City Youth Agenda, we are thinking about the wellbeing of young people holistically, including mental and physical health. According to the New York State Department of Health, in every year more than one in five New Yorkers has symptoms of a mental disorder. Moreover, in any year, one in ten adults and children experience mental health challenges serious enough to affect functioning in work, family, or school life.[1] Before COVID-19, the need for mental health services and supports was dire. This has magnified exponentially after the extended global health crisis. The average number of symptoms reported by youth taking the YAY census was six. Thirty-five percent of young people who took the CCC’s Voicing Our Future survey reported mental health symptoms, and among youth who reported a need for mental health services, only 42 percent received them.
We also found that young people’s basic needs related to food are not being met. While food insecurity has been a looming issue for youth in NYC for many years, this problem has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. According to Feeding America, one in four — more than 466,000 children — in New York City is experiencing food insecurity, a 49 percent increase from pre-COVID-19 levels.1 It seems abhorrent that in a city of such wealth, more than half of the young people who took the YAY census had experienced food insecurity in the prior few months. Supporting young people’s health and wellbeing is critical to the future of this City.