Our Research

The Kids Mental Health Foundation provides free resources to make sure mental health is a vital part of every child’s upbringing. We are committed to building a brighter future for all children through our resources.

To achieve this, we leverage the clinical insights from our more than 1,000 clinicians at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and our partner hospitals. We stay informed by examining the most up-to-date research in the field and monitoring trending conversations worldwide.

With your support, we can continue to enhance children’s mental health and wellness, reaching them proactively before any concerns or crises arise.

Impact of Children’s Mental Health on Working Parents

The Great Collide

In our research report, “The Great Collide: The Impact of Children's Mental Health and the Workforce,” we examined the concerns and challenges parents face at work around their children’s mental health.

• 8 out of 10 working parents believe mental health challenges have increased in recent years – even before COVID-19.
• 6 in 10 parents report being very or extremely concerned about their children’s emotional health and development within the past 2 years.
• Working parents feel distracted, emotionally drained, and worried about how to improve their children’s mental wellbeing, recognize potential warning signs, and seek care when necessary.

To address these needs, we developed Bloom, an online curriculum with videos and downloadable guides. Bloom empowers parents to navigate their children’s mental health effectively.

The Ripple Effect

In our follow up study, “The Ripple Effect: The Influence of Children’s Mental Health on The Great Resignation,” we found that:

• One-third of working parents report changing or quitting their jobs in the past two years because of their child’s mental health.
• 66% of Black/African American Mental Health Disrupted parents reported changing jobs or quitting working in the past two years because of a child’s mental health compared to 51% of non-Hispanic White Mental Health Disrupted parents.
• 38% of parents say their organization does not have a “family first” culture.

The Kids Mental Health Foundation created a discussion guide for employers to use with parents and caregivers in their organization.

Supporting Students Mental Health

The Kids Mental Health Foundation partnered with First Book, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring education equity for children living in poverty, to conduct research into educators’ concerns about students’ mental health and well-being: 

• 98% of educators say mental health challenges act as a barrier to children’s education.
• 85% of educators believe addressing mental health is a high or emergency priority in relation to other classroom or program priorities this year.
• 72% of educators say the pandemic has introduced new mental health challenges among students/children.
• 92% of educators indicated they are very or extremely interested in accessing support resources focused on promoting the general mental health and well-being of all students.

1. First Book and The Kids Mental Health Foundation created Taking Care: An Educator Guide to Healthy Habits for Student Emotional Wellness. This free guide for educators contains best practices and activities to optimize mental fitness and emotional resilience and decrease stress and anxiety. The activities in the Taking Care guide are meant to be paired with First Book’s books and resources featured on their Social & Emotional Learning page. 

Mental Wellness in the Classroom

Based on teachers’ needs for additional resources, The Kids Mental Health Foundation is piloting Mental Wellness Teacher Kits. These monthly kits contain a curriculum, activity and extras for the classroom. Topics range from bullying to trauma-informed care to test anxiety. In its first year of piloting:

• 73% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that their students were able to recognize and label their feelings (and those of others) more appropriately since using the Mental Wellness Kits.
• 82% of participants have noticed a change in their student's behavior since using the Mental Wellness Kits. 
• Most participants noticed an improvement in classroom engagement and a decrease in classroom arguments, with other responses including improved coping skills and emotional awareness.

Each year in recognition of World Kindness Day, we send schools free Kindness Kits, which includes a curriculum, posters, postcards and pencils for the classroom to teach children about ways to show kindness to others.

• 91% of participants agreed that the activities in the kindness kit were helpful or very helpful.
• 89% of survey participants agree or strongly agree that their students were more cooperative with peers after completing the kindness challenge.

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Supporting Students' Mental Health

We know educators are on the front line dealing with their students’ mental health and wellness.

But what are they seeing in the classroom? And what can help?

On Our Sleeves partnered with First Book, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring education equity for children living in poverty, to conduct research into educators’ concerns about students’ mental health and well-being:

• 98% of educators say mental health challenges act as a barrier to children’s education
• 85% of educators believe addressing mental health is a high or emergency priority in relation to other classroom or program priorities this year
• 72% of educators say the pandemic has introduced new mental health challenges among students/children
• 92% of educators indicated they are very or extremely interested in accessing support resources focused on promoting the general mental health and well-being of all students

In response to these concerns, First Book and On Our Sleeves created Taking Care: An Educator Guide to Healthy Habits for Student Emotional Wellness. This free guide for educators contains best practices and activities to optimize mental fitness and emotional resilience and decrease stress and anxiety. The activities in the Taking Care guide are meant to be paired with First Book’s books and resources featured on their Social & Emotional Learning page.