Welcome to The Time is Now, your Children’s Mental Health Campaign newsletter! From the State House to the Public Garden, advocates have been showing up for children’s mental health this spring. In this newsletter, we bring you the latest on the fiscal year 2027 state budget, a new coalition launching in support of babies and families, and an upcoming day of action you won’t want to miss! Read on for ways to stay engaged as this important work continues.
Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Update
As the state fiscal year 2027 (FY27) budget process nears its close, we have mixed news to share. Representative Domb and Senator Creem filed amendments in their respective chambers to maintain funding for the Department of Mental Health (DMH) Child and Adolescent Services line item (#5042-5000). Unfortunately, neither amendment was adopted. These cuts, totaling $4.18 million, will affect Flexible Support Services, Intensive Home-Based Therapeutic Care (IHBTC), and Therapeutic Day Programs: the community-based services that keep children in their homes, schools, and communities rather than in emergency rooms and hospitals. We are deeply grateful to Representative Domb, Senator Creem, and the many cosponsors who joined them. We are also grateful to everyone who engaged in this fight. Your calls and emails reached dozens of legislators and staff, delivering a clear and consistent message about what these cuts mean for kids and families. That work matters, and it is not over. We will continue to push for a well-resourced children's behavioral health system, and to mitigate harm as these cuts move forward. On a brighter note: Representative Decker secured $200,000 for the School-Based Behavioral Health Technical Assistance (SBBH TA) Center in the House budget, and Senator Velis secured $500,000 (level funding to fiscal year 2026) in the Senate budget. We are grateful to both lead sponsors and their cosponsors for these investments in both chambers. The SBBH TA Center, operated by the BIRCh Center at UMass Boston, provides free training, tools, and hands-on technical assistance to school districts and community providers across Massachusetts. Schools are increasingly on the front lines of youth behavioral health care. The Center helps ensure that state investments in school-based services are implemented consistently and effectively, allowing more students to access support where they already are.
What comes next: In June, House and Senate leadership will appoint a conference committee to reconcile the two budgets. Once both chambers approve the final version, Governor Healey will have ten days to sign it, with the goal of enacting the FY27 budget before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. The Governor may sign, veto, or reduce individual line items. Stay tuned for opportunities to weigh in with both the conferees and the Governor to ensure that resources for children's mental health are protected in the final budget.
Duck Day
On Thursday, May 7, Campaign partner organization Parent/Professional Advocacy League (PPAL) commemorated Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week with its annual “Duck Day.” The morning brought together families and advocates to raise awareness by dressing the Public Garden’s Make Way for Ducklings statues in green ribbons and included speeches from State Representative Mindy Domb (House Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery) and PPAL Executive Director Pam Sager.
Introducing the
We are excited to introduce the Massachusetts Babies Coalition, a collective of community partners, lived experience professionals, policymakers, and advocates centering the mental health and wellbeing and early relational health of babies and families in the context of culture and community. The Massachusetts Babies Coalition grew out of the decade-long, steadfast work of the Children’s Mental Health Campaign’s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Workgroup, with Campaign partner organization Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) serving as the backbone infrastructure for statewide advocacy and policy. Click here to learn more about the Coalition!
Save the Date!
Join the Massachusetts Babies Coalition for the first-ever Massachusetts Strolling Thunder on June 24th, 2026 from 10 am – 12 pm at the State House! Modeled on successful national Strolling Thunder events led by Zero to Three, MA Strolling Thunder will bring together families with babies in strollers, coalition partners, and community organizations from across the Commonwealth to center and elevate the experiences of families with young children (prenatal–6).
Learn more here!
Campaign Memories
In honor of the Children Mental Health Campaign's 20th anniversary, this year we're sharing some fun memories from the long history of the campaign. This month we have Marylou Sudders, former Secretary of Health and Human Services of Massachusetts and former Executive Director of MSPCC, speaking at the CHINS Reform Rally on June 28, 2012!
In the news: ‘Ghost Networks Make Accessing Mental Health Care Harder’
A recent Boston Globe opinion piece on “ghost networks” highlights a frustrating reality for families: insurance provider directories that look comprehensive on paper but lead to dead ends when seeking care. These inaccurate listings make it far harder, especially for children and families seeking behavioral health services, to access timely, appropriate support.
The Children’s Mental Health Campaign has been working on this issue for years. The CMHC advocated for the passage of Chapter 124 of the Acts of 2019, a landmark law requiring insurers to ensure provider directories are accurate, regularly updated, and transparent to the public. The law established clear standards, including prohibiting listings of providers who are not actually in-network and requiring frequent updates and audits of directory information, to address exactly the kinds of “ghost networks” highlighted in the Globe. This was a critical step forward, but as the Globe article makes clear, the work is not done. Implementation, enforcement, and ongoing improvements to accountability remain essential to ensure families can rely on directories to find real, available care. The CMHC continues to partner with policymakers, regulators, and advocates to strengthen oversight and ensure that the promise of this law translates into meaningful access to mental health care for all children and families. This month, the CMHC and our partners are participating in a series of listening sessions being held by the Division of Insurance focused on improving provider directory accuracy, helping to inform the next phase of implementation and oversight efforts.