Suicide-related emergency room visits among Montgomery County children ages 5 to 17 jumped 31% in one fiscal year, the county's chief health officer reported Tuesday.

Dr. Kisha Davis, chief health officer for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), presented the data during a semi-annual public health update to the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The briefing, first reported by Bethesda Magazine, drew from a report attached to the council's meeting agenda.

The 31% increase covers fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2026. Overall emergency room visits due to suicide attempts across all ages rose 7% over the same period. Minority youth have been disproportionately affected, according to the report.

Davis wrote in the report that the county is continuing to monitor and respond to concerning trends in youth and community mental health.

The data arrives as Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) begins the 2026-2027 school year with fewer mental health professionals on staff. The school board approved a roughly $3.7 billion budget on June 4 that eliminated 415 positions, according to The Baltimore Banner. Social workers and other staff who work directly with students were among those cut.

Superintendent Thomas Taylor reversed his proposal to cut 18 school psychologists. But Taylor said in August 2026 that all students still have access to mental health support and that the district would seek to give more visibility to those resources this school year, according to MyMCMedia.

After a February 2026 shooting at Wootton High School, nearly 100 mental health professionals responded to the campus, The Baltimore Banner reported. Among them was Liliana Ferrufino, a school psychologist usually stationed at Winston Churchill High School.

The National Association of School Psychologists recommends one psychologist for every 500 students. MCPS psychologists are often responsible for double, triple or even quadruple that number, according to The Baltimore Banner.

"Student mental health needs will not disappear because the positions disappear," MCPS social worker Ayana Manzanares told the school board at the June 4 budget vote.

Some state funding is on the way. Maryland announced $96 million for school-based mental health services statewide for the 2026-2027 school year, distributed through the Blueprint for Maryland's Future education reform law, according to MyMCMedia. The funding covers counseling, crisis intervention and substance use prevention for students in pre-K through 12th grade.

The council also issued a proclamation honoring World Mental Health Day, observed Saturday, Oct. 10. No follow-up hearing or specific council response to the youth mental health data has been announced.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.