COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nationwide Children's Hospital hosted an event Tuesday morning to announce The Kids Mental Health Foundation. 

The foundation is an expansion of their On Our Sleeves movement, which was established in 2018.

“The work seemed too big when we started but now it feels like all things are possible," said Eric Butter, chief of the Section of Psychology at Nationwide Children's. “it’s really been an amazing journey. We went from being challenged to help break stigmas about children’s mental health to developing the On Our Sleeves movement to then realizing that our mission can go much further than just breaking stigmas.” 

The foundation's goal is to provide free expert-driven resources to parents to help them navigate their child’s mental health and the conversations around it.

“Kids are talking to each other about this and adults aren’t in the conversation. We are able to give the resources and the vocabulary and the language to adults to help them have those conversations," said Butter.

The foundation conducted a survey in April of 2024 that shows 70% of parents are concerned about their kids' mental health and 1 in 3 are very concerned.

“The broader mission that The Kids Mental Health Foundation can do is to give all of those people in kids lives the materials they need to start those conversations, to keep it going when kids actually start it with you and to have it land in a space of hope and forward-looking rather than having it land in a space where kids are in crisis," said Butter.

The Kids Mental Health Foundation is hosting several events in the coming weeks, including a family day celebration on April 28 and a 5K on May 4. 

For more information, visit their website.