The One Video Call Your Kid May Really Need (And Doesn’t Have Yet)
We’ve raised $20M and are expanding our virtual pediatric behavioral health services statewide in California (more states coming soon). Here’s why.
Naomi Allen, Brightline CEO and Co-Founder
If you’re a parent, you know the feeling.
That feeling you’ve had every night around 9 p.m. since March. That feeling when the kids are finally in bed but you’re trying to catch up on never-ending work emails. Meanwhile, your phone keeps angrily sending you notifications from your parent group over the latest distance learning “option” your kids’ school sent out. Oh, and you’re still stressing about that third meltdown your seven-year-old had today after six hours straight attempting to sit in a virtual classroom.
It’s just Too. Damn. Much.
We’re in the middle of one of the most tumultuous and trying periods most of us have likely ever faced, certainly in our own lives, but especially now as parents. I’ve had days where I’ve found myself taking work calls from the bathroom (yes, that’s actually my home office) and wondering if I just might lose it over the next tantrum.
Although there have been glorious moments while sheltering in place with my three small kids (7, 5 and 5) and husband, while also building Brightline, overall the experience has frankly been full of ups and downs… like the three weeks I opted entirely out of homeschooling my oldest son because his anxiety had flared up to the point that he wouldn’t leave my side so I re-focused our home school time on child-focused cognitive behavioral techniques.
The coming tsunami of pediatric behavioral health need
To state the painfully obvious, life isn’t going to look normal for anyone in our country this year. In California alone, there are nearly 8 million children in preschool through high school, and for nearly all, the doors of their school buildings are closed.
Parents still have to work, get meals on the table, deal with homework and bedtime and battles over brushing teeth and who knows what else. Many parents of children with special needs are without their usual school-based support system and routines.
We don’t yet know how all this stress will affect our kids long term, but we do know that public health crises of different types usually have lasting psychological effects on school-aged children. And this is by far the most widespread impact we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes.
One in four children living under stay-home orders are dealing with anxiety and are at risk of depression. Sixty-five percent are struggling with boredom and feeling isolated. Half said they were worried. A third said they feel scared… and that was all data collected months ago, early in our pandemic journey. (Save the Children)
We were already in a crisis for kids behavioral health: of the 1 in 5 children who were dealing with a behavioral health condition, nearly 80% did not have any care (CDC). We’re seeing an alarmingly growing practice of using medication as the only treatment for pediatric behavioral health needs (American Academy of Pediatrics). And those were pre-COVID numbers.
Therapy is the most important video call most kids need right now
So how do we deal with and even reduce this coming wave of need? We get ahead of it. We might not have control over much right now, but we can do something to help our families — and we don’t have to go it alone.
Virtual behavioral health care for kids isn’t just an option, it’s the only viable option right now. We need to get families access to it immediately. As in, right now, no wait lists, no phone tag. Just getting families right in, right away, to see a therapist when their child (and they) really need it.
At Brightline, we’re delivering all of our services virtually, from behavior therapy for conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and depression, to evaluation and medication support, to parent training for managing disruptive behaviors, to speech-language therapy.
We’re the only company doing so with technology built to support families. Not just virtual care itself but also with a mobile app and digital treatment exercises for support between appointments, and free online classes for parents. With us, families work with highly trained clinicians who are also real people with real families, too.
We’ve taken a science-backed, data-driven approach and are giving families insight into their child’s progress. After my son got hours of treatment two years ago, I found out after the fact that I could (should?) have been a more active participant in his treatment plan, progress, exercises… he undoubtedly would have gotten results faster but nobody told me how to be involved. I don’t want other parents to have to feel like that anymore.
Community is crucial
Like most parents right now, community is essential to our team at Brightline. We are fortunate that we have found empathetic, dedicated, and driven partners to join us on this journey — including our newest board member, Emily Melton, and her amazing team at Threshold Ventures who led our Series A funding round with our existing investor Annie Lamont of Oak H/C. Emily and Annie both deeply understand the need for and embrace our technology-enabled, family-focused approach.
We are fortunate to also have strong new investors and strategic partners from leading healthcare organizations who serve millions of children and families every day, and know what it takes to bring excellent care to them. We are proud to partner with Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Boston Children’s Hospital — and to share that Andrew Dreyfus, president and CEO of BCBS MA and Jeff Semenchuk, Chief Innovation Officer of Blue Shield of CA, will be joining us as board observers.
We’re thrilled, too, to bring SemperVirens VC, Rock Health, and City Light into our community, and grateful for their investments and partnership that will help us to quickly expand to the new markets where we are heading very soon.
This is an incredible community stretching coast-to-coast, made up of real parents and people who care deeply about supporting children and families in reaching the better days that are ahead of us. Because there are certainly better days ahead of us.
For every parent who is feeling overwhelmed right now, know you’re not alone. We’re all going to get through this, and help is available.
If you’re in California and looking for support for your child, we’re ready when you are — you can get started and book your first appointment right now at hellobrightline.com. If you’re not in California, we’re growing fast, and you can sign up to get updates on our site.
We can’t wait to meet you and move forward, together. We now have a line of sight to a brighter future.
Want to join us in building a bright future for children and families? Check out our job openings at hellobrightline.com or drop us a note at info@hellobrightline.com
