2026 State of Our Kids Report

Addressing the Youth Mental Health Crisis

Read the Report

KABOOM! is proud to share the 2026 State of Our Kids Report: Addressing the Youth Mental Health Crisis. This report takes an in-depth look at the current realities kids are facing and calls on cross-sector leaders and youth to come together to create solutions that address the youth mental health crisis.

Continue below to find the full report and original contributions from our Advisory Council.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL REPORT

Realities Shaping Childhood Today

The Disappearing Playground and Emergence of Screen Time

Over the past two decades, unstructured play has been steadily displaced — first by overscheduled afternoons, then by screens that followed kids into every room, and finally by platforms engineered to make sure they never looked away.

When Bodies Stop Moving, Minds Suffer

For children, physical activity is as essential to healthy development as food and sleep. Yet across the country, our kids are moving less than any generation before them, and the toll on their mental health is profound.

Access to Nature and Outdoor Spaces: A Foundation for Health and Connection

Access to nature and quality outdoor spaces is not a luxury add-on to a healthy childhood. It is a core developmental requirement — and right now, too many children are growing up without it.

Racial Equity Lens Through Voices and Lived Experiences

The 2026 State of Our Kids report is written with equity in mind. Throughout the report, additional testimonies are included to add a narrative of lived experiences by Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native youth. Improving the state of our kids in America starts with understanding the realities faced by youth today, inclusive of all backgrounds.

The Black Child Experience of
Adultification vs. Childhood

The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) has named that for Black children, the youth mental health crisis is not only psychological, but the predictable outcome
of systems designed to adultify childhood.

Unseen, Undocumented, and Afraid: The Latino/Hispanic Child Experience

Latino/Hispanic children are among the most numerous, yet overlooked in national conversations about child well-being, and are navigating extreme trauma and fears around family separation and displacement under the current administration.

Reclaiming Cultural Identity, Sovereignty, and Childhood: The Native Child Experience

Access to safe greenspaces, clean air and water, and environments free of harm are developmental necessities. For Native American and Alaska Native children, those conditions have been systematically stripped away through the explicit, documented policies of the federal government.

The report is written in collaboration with the Youth Editorial Board and leaders from the National Youth Leadership Council, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, National Recreation and Park Association, National Black Child Development Institute, Harvard Center on the Developing Child, and Children and Nature Network. We express our deepest gratitude to each person and organization that committed their time and talent to this report.

What makes this report different is that young people are not just reflected in the data—they are leading the narrative,” said Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM!. “Their voices make clear that this is not just a youth issue. It is a community issue, a systems issue, and a shared responsibility.

Youth Editorial Board

The Youth Editorial Board includes members of the National Youth Leadership Council’s Youth Advisory Council and Youth as Solutions program, whose lived experiences, insights, and vision for change are at the heart of this report. Their voices don’t just inform this work, they lead it, ensuring that the solutions we pursue are truly for them and by them.

When the topic of youth mental health enters a room, an adult is usually the one speaking,” wrote the Youth Editorial Board. “Our voices are often not heard. But we, young people, are not only those most at risk. We are also the ones who know this issue best. We live it.

Advisory Council

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