Our Story

We know a lot of adults didn’t grow up talking about mental health. And because kids don’t wear their thoughts on their sleeves, we don’t know what they are going through.

That’s why The On Our Sleeves Movement For Children’s Mental Health is on a mission to give expert-created resources to all U.S. communities so everyone can understand and promote mental health for children. Our vision is to build a world where mental health is a part of the upbringing of every single child—but it’s no easy task.

We do that by providing all families in the U.S. resources to break stigmas, understand mental health and teach skills to boost mental health and wellness. That includes access to free guides, skill building tools like conversation-starters, videos, curriculum for schools and workplaces and more, created by the experts from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and our collaborating partners.

Our Founder

On Our Sleeves was created by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, one of the United States’ largest network of pediatric behavioral health treatment providers and researchers. Nearly 1,000 mental health professionals and researchers at Nationwide Children’s, in partnership with other trusted experts, provide their real-world knowledge and expertise to power On Our Sleeves.

In 2015, Nationwide Children’s recognized children’s mental health was a growing national crisis. The hospital made a commitment to transform behavioral health services and explore new models of care that could be replicated everywhere. An anchor of the transformation was the country’s largest facility dedicated to children’s mental health, the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion.

However, the hospital recognized that this local commitment was not enough. That stigmas and lack of awareness also were barriers to mental health care. On World Mental Health Day 2018, they broadened their commitment with the launch of On Our Sleeves to help start conversations about children’s mental health, end stigma and provide much-needed free resources to families, educators and more.

Creating A National Children's Mental Health Movement

Since then, On Our Sleeves has grown into a national movement dedicated to providing free educational resources across the U.S.

In 2022, more than 6 million people accessed resources for their home, school, organization or workplace. We will continue to do everything so that one day, we live in a world where mental health is talked about like physical health. Read more about our impact.

Our Partners

Now, backed by the voices and actions of leading corporations, youth-serving, parent-serving and health care organizations and individual champions who have come together to form the On Our Sleeves Alliance, we continue to strengthen our mission and vision, and work to make sure everyone has access to these valuable resources to help empower children.

• Learn more about our National Advisory Council
• Learn more about the Alliance
• Meet our partners and champions

On Our Sleeves is also a proud member of the Mental Health Coalition.

Interested in making an impact on children’s mental health? Join us.