Medicaid covered about 43% of U.S. youth with major depression or substance use disorder in 2023 – roughly 2.4 million young people. (Adobe Stock)
As Michigan expands investments in youth mental health, the focus is shifting to building real systems of care.
The 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about 40% of U.S. high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness – prompting Michigan officials to expand Medicaid-funded programs and new care models.
Hafeezah Muhammad, CEO of Backpack Healthcare, a mental-health provider for children, young adults and families, said the company grew out of her own challenges trying to find care for her son, who was battling severe depression at just 6 years old.
“I struggled finding care for him, and at the time I worked for a national mental-health company,” she said. “I said, ‘You know what? if so many kids are struggling, my son is struggling, how can I build a business that, one, accepts insurance that can be affordable, accepts Medicaid for those who have Medicaid.”
Backpack Healthcare is one of several providers working with Medicaid to expand access to youth mental-health care in Michigan and other states. Supporters say organizations like this reflect a broader shift toward prevention and more flexible systems of care, even as Medicaid funding faces pressure.
Nathaan Demers, a clinical psychologist and principal investor with Hopelab, which invests in companies focused on youth mental health, said states are starting to rethink how care is delivered.
“What I really like about seeing some of these value-based care contracts is that, all of the sudden, systems are incentivized to engage in prevention,” he said, “to find ways to keep people healthy, and drive down costs that way rather than relying on the medical model, which is wait until something’s wrong and try and fix it.”
Demers said the goal is to build a full continuum of care – from prevention and coaching to clinical treatment – so young people can get the right level of support at the right time.
