Mental health service availability for autistic youth in New York City: An examination of the developmental disability and mental health service systems.

LAY ABSTRACT: Autistic children and adolescents experience high rates of co-occurring mental health conditions, including depression and suicidality, which are frequently identified by stakeholders as treatment priorities. Unfortunately, accessing community-based mental health care is often difficult for autistic youth and their families. The first obstacle families confront is finding a provider that offers mental health treatment to autistic youth within the many service systems involved in supporting the autism community. The mental health and developmental disability systems are two of the most commonly accessed, and previous work has shown there is often confusion over which of these systems is responsible for providing mental health care to autistic individuals. In this study, we conducted a telephone survey to determine the availability of outpatient mental health services for autistic youth with depressive symptoms or suicidal thoughts or behaviors in New York City across the state's mental health and developmental disability systems. Results showed that while a greater percentage of clinics in the mental health system compared with in the developmental disability system offered outpatient mental health services to autistic youth (47.1% vs 25.0%), many more did not offer care to autistic youth and there were very few options overall. Therefore, it is important that changes to policy are made to increase the availability of services and that mental health care providers' knowledge and confidence in working with autistic youth are improved.

East Asian Population.

This article explores the ways East Asian American (EAA) children and adolescents have experienced disparities in the United States throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The history of racism toward Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and the complexities of acculturation are reflected through this contemporary lens. Traditional East Asian (EA) values were disrupted during this period. Implications for children and families are discussed. Persistent underlying xenophobia and racism, such as the model minority myth or perpetual foreigner stereotype, rose to new prominence, furthering emotional distress in EA and EAA youths beyond those already experienced universally by AAPI families during the pandemic.