American Psychological Association and Mental Health America

• Florida ranked 49th in the country for access to mental health care in 2023

• Around 158 million U.S. residents (almost half of our population) live in an area with a mental health workforce shortage

•  76% of Americans are dissatisfied with the current available mental health treatments in the U.S.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

• 1 in 5 adults & 1 in 6 youth (ages 6-17) experience a mental illness yearly

  • 54.7% of those with a mental illness do not receive treatment

  •  More than 1 in 4 do not receive adequate treatment (partly due to the associated costs)

• 2.89 million Floridians have a diagnosed mental health condition

•  6.4 million live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals

•  50% of all mental health conditions begin by age 14

• 75% of all mental health conditions begin by age 24

Forbes Advisor

• Florida ranks 4th in the country on their list of "Worst States For Mental Health Care 2024"

• Florida has the fourth highest percentage of adults who have a mental health disorder and cannot see a doctor due to cost (30.1%)

• Florida has the 12th highest percentage of adults with a mental illness who are uninsured (13.6%)

• The state ranks 12th highest for the percentage of youth with private health insurance that does not cover mental or emotional problems (11.4%)

Kaiser Family Foundation 

• 32.3% of adults in the state reported symptoms of anxiety

Whitaker's research paper

• the American School Counselor Association recommends a 250:1 student-to-counselor ratio

• Florida's average student-to-counselor ratio is over double this, being 554:1

• Counselor caseloads are 78% higher than suggested

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention 

• Suicide is the 2nd leading COD for youth ages 10-34

• On average, 1 person in the U.S. dies by suicide every 11 minutes

• In Florida, 3,567 lives were lost to suicide, and 610,000 adults had thoughts of suicide in the last year