They Ask For Help, Nearly Two-Thirds Didn’t Get It.
Young people in DC are asking for mental health support.
In a recent DC Action survey of 108 young people, 70 — nearly two-thirds (65%) — reported that they wanted mental health help but did not get it. That statistic alone should give us pause.
While this series focuses on transition-age youth (ages 16–24), the survey asked respondents to select from age ranges. As a result, a small number of responses fall just outside that range, including youth in the 13–17 category and adults over 24. However, the findings across age groups were consistent and reflect shared challenges accessing care.
Nearly 43% of respondents (46 young people) rated their mental health as fair or poor — pointing to a significant level of need among young people in the District.
Young people in DC are not unfamiliar with care, nor are they inherently resistant to it. Many have already taken meaningful steps to engage. In fact, 77% (83 respondents) said they have used mental health services such as therapy, counseling, or support groups at some point. Yet prior engagement does not guarantee sustained access to services that are responsive, culturally competent, or aligned with their evolving needs.
Right now, a majority of surveyed youth are telling us that when they need help, they are not receiving it. Understanding why so many youth are unable to access the care they seek requires understanding their experiences and examining how systems respond.
Across this five-part blog series shining a spotlight on mental health barriers for the TAY population in the District; we will explore what youth told us, how the District’s behavioral health system currently operates, and what it will take to ensure that when youth ask for support, the system is built to answer. Blog Series:
Part One: They Ask For Help, Nearly Two-Thirds Didn’t Get It.
In this blog, we cover top-level findings from our survey and what they tell us about gaps, capacity, and strains in the District’s behavioral health systems.
Part Two: The System Exists, But Young People Still Struggle to Navigate It
Then we review why, despite a broad network of behavioral health programs and services, many young people in the District continue to struggle to access and stay connected to mental health care because the system remains fragmented, difficult to navigate, and lacks a clear, coordinated pathway to support.
Part Three: Housing Instability and the Challenge of Staying Connected to Care
We then cover why housing instability and homelessness significantly worsen barriers to mental health care, leaving many young people disconnected from support as they navigate fragmented housing and behavioral health systems that too often lack the coordination and sustained investment needed to provide consistent, long-term care.
Part Four: Pride and the Power of Belonging
Next, we highlight the resilience of LGBTQ+ youth while also recognizing the barriers many still face accessing affirming mental health care, stable housing, and the sense of belonging that is essential to well-being.
Part Five: Building a Mental Health System Young People Can Find, Trust, and Stay Connected To
Finally, we explore why culturally and linguistically responsive care — including providers who understand TAY lived experiences, system involvement, and housing instability — is critical to building trust in youth mental health services.
What Youth Told Us
When asked about barriers to accessing care, young people described challenges not only with cost and comfort, but also with navigating where to go and how to enter the system.
- 42% (45 young people) said they were worried about being judged or not understood
- 39% (42 young people) said they didn’t know where to go
- 32% (35 young people) said services were too expensive
- 26% (28 young people) said they didn’t feel comfortable talking about their problems
- 18% (19 young people) said they didn’t have transportation
Young people also shared their frustrations with accessing care in their own words:
“I didn’t know where to reach out for help.”
“Long wait times for appointments.”
“Lack of mental health professionals in my area.”
Even when young people are able to connect to care, maintaining that connection can be difficult — particularly when trust, consistency, and provider fit are not there. Common sentiments we heard from respondents included:
- “When I sought help, I felt judged, so I decided to go on my own and try alternative practices when I feel overwhelmed or low.”
- “[My assigned] counselor kept switching.”
- “There weren’t a lot of therapists that I connected with. I only met one therapist that I felt like I could actually have a conversation with.”
These responses reveal that barriers to care are rarely singular. For many young people, challenges related to stigma, cost, transportation, and system navigation intersect, making it difficult to access support even when they are actively seeking it. Together, these experiences point to a system that is not set up to respond effectively.
What Do We Mean by Access?
Mental health access is often measured by whether services exist within a system. But young people experience access differently.
For youth, access means:
- Getting a call back
- Being scheduled within a reasonable timeframe
- Feeling understood
- Not having to navigate complex systems alone
- Knowing the help will still be there when they need it
When nearly two-thirds of surveyed youth say they wanted help but did not receive it, that signals a disconnect between what the system offers and what young people are able to access.
This gap reflects more than individual barriers — it points to a behavioral health system that is difficult to navigate and not consistently equipped to meet the needs of young people in real time. From long wait times to limited provider availability and challenges finding culturally responsive care, these experiences suggest a system that is strained in its ability to meet demand and support youth in both accessing and staying connected to care.
Young people are reaching out for support. The question is whether the system is prepared to respond.
Take Action
Young people are reaching out for support. The question is whether the system is prepared to respond.
DC Action is calling on District leaders to strengthen the youth behavioral health workforce, create pathways for providers with lived experience, expand peer-to-peer support, and bring mental health services into the spaces young people already trust.
If you believe young people in DC deserve timely, culturally responsive mental health care, add your name to our petition calling on the DC Council, the Department of Behavioral Health, and the Mayor to take action.
Sign the petition here.