Use of Emergency Departments for Mental Health Care for Connecticut's Children: A Rising Tide 2001-2005

The researchers examined emergency department utilization in Connecticut and documented trends between 2001 and 2005. Data came from 31 short-term acute care hospitals in Connecticut. Information about emergency department visits made by children up to age 18 with a primary diagnosis related to behavioral health was extracted by the Connecticut Hospital Association to provide the basic data for the report.

Between 2001 and 2005, children under the age of 19 made 48,587 visits to emergency departments at Connecticut hospitals for behavioral health problems and 86% of those behavioral health-related visits were made by youth between the ages of 11 and 18. More than a third (41%) of the child and youth behavioral health-related emergency department visits were paid by Medicaid.