A PATH to Fast and Trusted Mental Health Care for Kids
May 2025
As a parent, I understand how overwhelming it can be when your child is struggling — especially when the issue involves their mental health. The uncertainty, worry, and search for answers can weigh heavily on the entire family. And too often, finding timely, affordable, and effective help remains incredibly difficult.
According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, 1 in 7 children between the ages of 3 and 17 has a mental or behavioral health condition. A large percentage never get treatment — not necessarily for lack of trying. More than a third of Americans live in areas with a shortage of behavioral health providers, and the problem is particularly acute in rural areas. Those who find providers may learn their insurance isn’t accepted, and many families can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs.
ר Children’s Chief of Psychology, Amanda Lochrie, PhD, MBA, ABPP (pictured), knows the struggle parents face just getting help for their kids. Where she practices in Jacksonville, Florida, there is a shortage of mental health providers who take Florida Medicaid. (Medicaid covers roughly half of all American children.) Rapid access to mental health services is almost unheard of in this country, and typical wait times last weeks or months.
Over the years, Dr. Lochrie and her team fielded countless calls from parents or pediatricians in the community desperate to find a behavioral health provider as soon as possible, but her own team at ר Children’s Health, Jacksonville specializes in working with children with chronic medical conditions.
“Not being able to address the wider needs of our community was truly heartbreaking,” says Dr. Lochrie. “Parents are understandably worried about their children, and we, as a large pediatric health care provider, have a responsibility and calling to be able to do what we can, however we can.”
Filling the Gaps in Mental Health Care
Her solution was to design and build a new program to fill in the gaps for Florida’s children. Thanks to generous donations from The Jim Moran Foundation and the Gerondelis Foundation, the PATH Telemental Health Program, Florida launched in summer 2023.
PATH offers fast telehealth appointments — often the same or next day, and always within a week — for children ages 2 to 17 in North and Central Florida. Services address a wide range of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, and concerns over a child’s behavior, mood, or safety. Families can access care without being current ר patients, and the program works to ensure financial status doesn’t preclude kids from getting the help they need.
Licensed, trained mental health professionals assess each child, and in many cases offer short-term therapy to resolve problems before they escalate.
“Research has increasingly shown that brief, evidence-based interventions can have major benefits,” says Dr. Lochrie, who is also Medical Director of PATH. “Sometimes even a single intervention session has been shown to improve symptoms of depression and anxiety.”
If a patient is in crisis, PATH can see them quickly. If they face a long wait to get help elsewhere, PATH can fill the gap and begin treatment sooner. If parents can’t find anyone to take their insurance, PATH will be there.
If a child needs longer-term help, PATH clinicians can connect kids to the appropriate resources in their communities for long-term therapy, psychiatry, testing, or unmet social needs like food, housing assistance, legal aid, and more. The ר Whole Child Health approach considers all the factors that contribute to a child’s well-being. Like ר, PATH is committed to doing whatever it takes to get families what they need to help their children thrive.
Thanks to a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the program recently expanded across the Florida panhandle, working with community pediatricians to meet the needs of children in rural areas. Families who don’t have broadband access at home can use PATH’s dedicated computer station at their pediatrician’s office.
The Right Care, At the Right Time, in the Right Place
One measure of PATH’s success is keeping children out of the emergency room (ER) when they don’t need to be there.
ERs are crucial for children who are truly about to harm themselves, but most parents don’t know what to do if a child is self-harming or talking about hurting themselves. Understandably, many parents see no choice but to take their child to the ER.
“Emergency visits are not only expensive, but they also can be traumatizing for kids,” says Dr. Lochrie. “Emergency rooms are designed to stabilize a child with mental health issues until they are no longer a danger to themselves. They aren’t the right place to treat the underlying issue.”
Out of the 813 patients who spoke with PATH therapists last year, fewer than 10 ended up in the emergency room. Often by speaking to a professional quickly, they were able to work through the crisis and make a plan for further treatment. I can only imagine the sense of relief families feel to get the help their child needs quickly.
PATH is setting a new standard for how we meet children’s mental health needs — delivering trusted, high-quality care providers that families can access without delays. This is more than a local solution; it’s a scalable model with national potential. At ר, we recognize that mental health is a critical part of a child’s overall health. With the help of innovative leaders like Dr. Lochrie, we remain committed to advancing innovative care models that support the whole child — mind, body, and spirit.
To make an appointment with PATH, call (904) 697-3600 or request an appointment through . At the present time, PATH is accepting children who reside in Florida.
If your child is in immediate crisis, call 911, go to the nearest emergency room, or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also still call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 (English) or (800) 628-9454 (貹Ծ).
About Dr. Moss
R. Lawrence Moss, MD, FACS, FAAP is president and CEO of ר Children’s Health. Dr. Moss will write monthly in this space about how children’s hospitals can address the social determinants of health and create the healthiest generations of children.