Support MAMH's work to ensure that individuals across the lifespan have access to the supports and services they need to promote positive mental health and overall well being!
Our policy priorities include improving children's mental health, reforming the criminal justice system, addressing the impact of racism on mental health, expanding access to housing and services, and promoting trauma-informed policy.
We share some of the most striking data on these issues that have helped to shape our perspectives.
34%
Around 34 % of MA youth ages 0-17 experienced at least one form of trauma, abuse, or significant stress in the prior year, with more than 13% experiencing multiple traumas.
34%
34% of MA high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless for more than 2 weeks.
39%
39% of self-identified LGBTQ MA young people seriously considered suicide in the past year.
450,000
Nationally, around 450,000 individuals returned to their communities from prison in 2023.
Individuals who are released from prison are often blocked from gaining access to employment, housing, and educational opportunities which would help them build stability and find success after incarceration. Because of this, half of the individuals released will return to prison within a few years of release.
38%
While the lifetime prevalence of PTSD is said to be approximately 6.9% in the general US population, prison populations have a pooled lifetime prevalence of around 38%.
Female inmates are disproportionately affected by both point- and lifetime PTSD.
59%
In Boston, 59% of unhoused adults reported serving time in prison, jail or other correctional facility compared to just 3% of housed adults.
3.6x and 3.4x
Relative to white students, Black students are 3.6 times more likely be suspended out of school and 3.4 times more likely to be expelled.
School success is strongly correlated with positive mental health outcomes.
44.7%
While the Black homeownership rate (44.7%) achieved the highest annual gain among all races in 2023, it remains substantially lower than White (72.4%), Asian (63.4%), and Hispanic (51.0%) homeownership rates.
Access to safe, quality, and affordable housing is one of the most basic and powerful social determinants of health.
40% and 38%
In 2022, around 40% of Latinx individuals and 38% of Black individuals with any mental health condition reported receiving mental health services in the past year, compared to around 56% of white individuals with mental health conditions.
While people of color experience mental health conditions at similar rates compared to white individuals, they were less likely to receive services. Lack of access to affordable and competent treatment can lead to more chronic mental health conditions. Due to changes in federal funding and other administrative priorities, this figure - while outdated - is the most recently available.
101 hours
Minimum wage ($15.00/hr) workers in MA would have to work 101 hours a week to afford a modest 1 bedroom rental home at Fair Market Rent.
187%
187% the amount of monthly income an individual with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Housing Income would have to spend to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts in 2026.
29,360
There are 29,360 people experiencing homelessness on a given night in MA.
6.2x
It is 6.2x more likely for behavioral acute inpatient facilities to be utilized out-of-network relative to medical/surgical acute inpatient facilities.
12.4x and 3.0x
Substance use disorder care delivered in acute inpatient facilities was out-of-network 12.4 times more often than for medical/surgical care, while mental health care delivered in acute inpatient facilities was out-of-network 3.0 times more often.
8.6%
In 2022-2023 combined data, 8.60% of youth (ages 12-17) had private health insurance that did not cover mental health treatment – totaling over 1 million youth in the U.S.
17%
17% of the US population has experienced four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs are preventable, potentially traumatic events occurring before age 18 years whose negative effects can be long lasting and severe.
Additionally, women and people of color were more likely to experience four or more types of ACEs compared to men and white people. The public health impact of childhood adversity is evident in the very strong association between childhood adversity and depressive symptoms, antisocial behavior, and drug use during the early transition to adulthood.
2x and 3x
Those with 4+ ACEs had 2x the likelihood of reporting ever heavy drinking and 3x the likelihood of reporting alcohol problems in adulthood.
Research has demonstrated a strong relationship between ACEs, substance use conditions, and mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety.
PCEs
Higher levels of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) were associated with fewer mental health symptoms, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Positive childhood experiences include being able to talk to a family member about feelings, feeling that family stood by in hard times, participating in community traditions, feeling a sense of belonging in high school, feeling supported by friends, having other non-parental adults express genuine interest, and feeling safe and protected by an adult at home. Additionally, the positive childhood experiences were associated with decreased chances of depression and poor mental health held even if the adult also experienced ACEs.