Mental health service availability for autistic youth in New York City: An examination of the developmental disability and mental health service systems.

Researchers surveyed mental health clinics in New York City to see how many would treat autistic children and teens with depression or thoughts of suicide. They found that less than half of mental health clinics and only one-quarter of disability services would provide care. This shows there are very few options for families seeking mental health support for their autistic children.

This 2023 study examined the availability of mental health services for autistic youth in New York City by surveying clinics across mental health and developmental disability service systems. Researchers conducted telephone surveys to assess which providers offered outpatient mental health care for autistic youth experiencing depression or suicidal ideation. Results revealed significant service gaps, with only 47.1% of mental health system clinics and 25.0% of developmental disability system clinics offering services to autistic youth. The findings highlight systemic barriers to accessing mental health care and confusion between service systems regarding responsibility for providing mental health treatment to autistic individuals.

Findings suggest urgent need for policy changes to increase service availability and improve provider training. Families may need to search extensively to find appropriate mental health care. System-level coordination between mental health and developmental disability services requires improvement to clarify responsibilities and reduce barriers to care access.

Sample size not reported. Study limited to New York City, limiting generalizability. Telephone survey methodology may not capture complete service details. No information provided about survey response rates or clinic characteristics that might influence service provision.

Autistic children and adolescents experience high rates of co-occurring mental health conditions, including depression and suicidality, which are frequently identified by stakeholders as treatment priorities. Unfortunately, accessing community-based mental health care is often difficult for autistic youth and their families. The first obstacle families confront is finding a provider that offers mental health treatment to autistic youth within the many service systems involved in supporting the autism community. The mental health and developmental disability systems are two of the most commonly accessed, and previous work has shown there is often confusion over which of these systems is responsible for providing mental health care to autistic individuals.

In this study, we conducted a telephone survey to determine the availability of outpatient mental health services for autistic youth with depressive symptoms or suicidal thoughts or behaviors in New York City across the state's mental health and developmental disability systems. Results showed that while a greater percentage of clinics in the mental health system compared with in the developmental disability system offered outpatient mental health services to autistic youth (47.1% vs 25.0%), many more did not offer care to autistic youth and there were very few options overall. Therefore, it is important that changes to policy are made to increase the availability of services and that mental health care providers' knowledge and confidence in working with autistic youth are improved.