Mental health and well-being are as important to a child’s development as his or her overall “physical” health. Studies show that as many as one in five children have a mental-health need. In fact, as many as six students in a classroom of 30 may be experiencing a mental-health challenge and as many as two students in that classroom may be experiencing a mental-health challenge that makes them unable to function.

As we prepare to mark the second annual National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day on May 8, we recognize that children do not have to remain neglected when it comes to their mental health. 

The future of children’s mental healthcare holds great promise. Programs promoting mental health work, and when they do, the resilience of a child grows while the challenging behaviors often associated with mental-health problems and emotional disturbances diminish.

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day was created in 2006 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On May 8, the national partners for Awareness Day will hold a Capitol Hill briefing for members of Congress to present recommendations on transforming children’s mental-health delivery systems in America.

The Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Association of Social Workers and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law are among the nation’s leading organizations that will present recommendations to build on what’s been achieved in addressing the mental-health needs of our children and youth.

These recommendations will, among other things, stress the importance of recognizing that as a nation and as a society we have come a long way in understanding mental illness and its impact on children and adolescents. Research has made extraordinary leaps forward and we have a much better understanding of the disorders and the evidence-based treatments, services and supports that build resilience and facilitate recovery for children and adolescents.

Not offering effective mental healthcare has many ramifications. Access to community mental-health services could help diminish the number of children with mental illnesses who get caught up in the juvenile justice system or, worse, take their lives. Today, approximately 2,000 children and adolescents with mental-health illnesses are in juvenile detention centers across the country, at a cost of $100 million a year.

The lack of mental-health services surely contributes to the fact that nearly 11 youth between the ages 15 to 24 take their own lives every day and 90 percent of those deaths are associated with mental-health problems.

Investing in effective mental-health treatment can mean the difference between a child’s success and failure in school and in society. The most effective mental healthcare must be tailored to the child’s and family’s needs, and must be accessible and available when and where they need it. The needs of children and their families often cross multiple systems; communities need sustainable tools to link or integrate systems to meet those needs.

On average, children’s mental-health delivery systems comprising community-based services and supports save public health systems $2,776.85 per child in inpatient costs over the course of a year, and save juvenile justice systems $784.16 per child within the same timeframe.

As encouraging as the evaluation data from these types of government programs are, much more is required of us as a nation to secure the whole health and well-being of our future — our children and youth. We should take May 8, National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day 2007, to begin a national debate on mental healthcare and its importance to our children.

Domenici is a member of the Appropriations and Budget committees.