More Than 80% Of Illinois Voters And Parents Support a Comprehensive Approach To The Youth Mental Health Challenge
New Research Shows Illinoisans, Concerned About Youth Mental Health, Reject One-Sized Fits All Solutions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the new school year begins, the Coalition to Empower Our Future (CEF) has released new research showing how Illinois voters and parents are thinking about the youth mental health challenge. The research shows widespread concern about youth mental health, which Illinoisans view as multifaceted and complex, as well as widespread consensus around a comprehensive approach to solving the challenge. It reveals that more than 80 percent of voters and parents in Illinois favor a comprehensive approach over a narrow one that targets phones and similar devices. Conducted in partnership with Mercury Analytics from June 24 to 29, 2025, the research surveyed 600 registered voters in Illinois — including 341 parents — and included follow-up discussions with 30 participants in early August.
“For so many families, the new school year means new beginnings, but also new stressors and anxieties. Parents intuitively understand that these pressures don’t all look the same, and so we need to be looking at the challenge holistically,” said Glen Weiner, executive director of the Coalition to Empower our Future. “The research affirms this intuition and underscores an important opportunity for us to come together, look at the problem from every angle, and have a comprehensive conversation about how to support both parents and kids as we navigate the youth mental health challenge.”
Illinois parents and voters voiced their opinions on the state of youth mental health:
- “Focusing on just one issue, like phone use, ignores the bigger picture and won’t address the root causes.”
- “Not much has been done to help teens struggling with mental health.”
- “Even if the cause of different mental health challenges is similar, each person’s experience is different, and each person experiences the world differently.”
Most Illinois voters and parents personally know young people facing mental health struggles, but report limited awareness of where to find local resources or support. About six-in-10 say they would not know where to go in their community to access mental health support for a young person in crisis. Respondents overwhelmingly agree that recognizing each young person’s unique mental health experience is essential to the solution.
The research also highlights strong public support for practical measures like improving access to mental health services, providing parents with tools and resources, and training K-12 educators and staff to identify early signs of emotional distress.
CEF’s findings out of Illinois highlight the pressing need for a statewide conversation focused on a comprehensive, inclusive approach to youth mental health that reflects its complexity and invites collaboration from families, educators, and community leaders.
The full Illinois research findings can be found HERE.
About the Coalition to Empower our Future
Coalition to Empower our Future is an organization that aims to bring together a range of voices to fully inform solutions that empower youth, parents, communities and society. The Coalition to Empower our Future supports solutions that are inclusive of the full spectrum of factors impacting youth mental health. Former Montana Governor Steve Bullock, former assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Family Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services January Contreras, and former U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo serve on the board of directors of the Coalition to Empower our Future. Dr. Caroline Carney, a board-certified psychiatrist and internist, is a health executive and clinician who serves as an expert advisor to the coalition.
To learn more, visit empowerourfuturecoalition.com or follow Coalition to Empower our Future on Facebook, X and YouTube.
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