Essay
Good morning Chair and Committee members my name is Samar Jime I’m a junior at Harding.
My bill is HF2040, this bill recognizes that there are major gaps in the support we give to kids who are struggling. Right now, many children can't get into residential treatment programs because there aren’t enough spots or resources. This bill works to fix that by funding more programs and improving the ones we already have. It also creates crisis stabilization centers just for children, giving them a safe place to go during a mental health emergency instead of ending up in an ER or being sent home without support. On top of that, the bill forms a task force to keep studying these issues and recommend better long-term solutions.
In 2022 Minnesota Student Survey, says 29% of students said they struggle with long term mental health issues, and if we look at 11th graders, 28% had seriously considered suicide in there life time. On top of that, Children's Minnesota reported that mental health emergency room visits went from about 1,700 in 2018 to over 3,300 in 2023 which is nearly double.
Instead of having more places to go to, did you know Minnesota actually has fewer places for them to go to. Since 2022 we have lost over 600 residence treatment beds for children, overall we also have fewer child psychiatrists than the average number. Which is why so many children end up waiting for months or sometimes even sitting in an ER with nothing else to do or again being sent home.
Ever since 7th grade, I have seen kids struggling with their mental health and the thing is, it’s talked about so much but there’s just nothing being done about it. What I normally see is that someone who needs help reaches out then they unfortunately cannot get the help they need. They get worse and worse than every single day with nothing to do about it and I have first hand seen many of my friends lose their lives to it, which I feel like it is too normalized.
HF2040 just helps fix this problem by funding more treatment facilities and creating more crisis centers, especially for kids. As well as instead of short term solutions, they’re forced to find long term ones that will actually help the kids that need it when they need it.