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Child and adolescent mental health gains specific provision in the ECA and expands the responsibility of the SUS in reception, specialized treatment, and therapeutic support for children and adolescents at different levels of the public network.
Children and adolescents now have an express right to mental health programs in the Unified Health System, with services aimed at preventing and treating mental disorders throughout the country.
The guarantee was included in the Statute of the Child and Adolescent by the Law No. 15.413/2026, sanctioned this Thursday (21) and published in the Official Gazette today (22).
The change adds article 11-A to the ECA and transforms into a specific legal provision the access of people under 18 years old to mental health care in the SUS.
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The regulation mandates that public programs include basic and specialized psychosocial attention, as well as emergency, urgent, and hospital care, according to the needs of each case.
The scope of the new rule includes everything from the initial reception in the public network to specialized services, when there is a clinical indication and appropriate referral.
With this, the service no longer depends solely on administrative policies and becomes directly part of the comprehensive protection legislation for children and adolescents.
Mental health in the ECA now has a specific rule
The Statute of the Child and Adolescent already ensured the right to life and health, with universal and equal access to public actions and services.
Law No. 15.413/2026 details this duty in the field of mental health, by providing specific programs for the child and adolescent public within the SUS.
According to the new wording, children and adolescents must have access to initiatives aimed at the prevention and treatment of mental disorders.
The law also establishes that these programs promote psychosocial attention at different levels, including basic care, specialized follow-up, and hospital care when necessary.
In practice, the regulation reinforces the obligation of the public authorities to organize care lines compatible with the age, social condition, and individual needs of each patient.
The legal text does not create a parallel network but explicitly inserts child and adolescent mental health among the responsibilities of the SUS.
Care in the SUS includes urgency, emergency, and hospitalization
The care provided by the new law covers different stages of the public health network, starting with basic psychosocial care, which can serve as an entry point for evaluation, guidance, and initial follow-up.
This level of care is important to identify needs early on and prevent worsening.
When necessary, the child or adolescent should be referred to specialized services, including units and teams focused on mental health.
The law also covers situations of urgency and emergency, as well as hospital care, in cases where professional evaluation indicates this type of assistance.
The inclusion of these levels in the ECA aims to ensure continuity of care, without restricting assistance to a single form of support.
Each situation should follow appropriate care lines, according to the evaluation of health professionals and the resources available in the public network.
Professionals will have ongoing training to identify risks
Another central point of Law No. 15.413/2026 is the requirement for specific and ongoing training for professionals working in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders in children and adolescents.
The training should assist in the early detection of risk signs and the necessary follow-up.
The measure reaches professionals directly involved in care, especially those who provide the first reception or accompany patients in health services.
Ongoing training is treated by the law as part of the care structure, not just as a complementary action.
With better-prepared teams, the public network tends to recognize more quickly situations that require specialized follow-up, referral to other services, or more intensive attention.
Even so, the effectiveness of the norm will depend on implementation by SUS managers in municipalities, states, and the Union.
Therapeutic support will be guaranteed to vulnerable youth
The law also ensures free or subsidized access to therapeutic resources for children and adolescents in vulnerable situations undergoing mental health treatment.
These resources must follow care guidelines appropriate to the individual needs of each patient, as provided in the new article of the ECA.
This provision is relevant because the cost of therapies, medications, specialized follow-up, and other resources can hinder the continuation of treatment for families in more fragile social situations.
By including this guarantee in the law, the ECA recognizes that mental health care also needs to consider access conditions.
The text does not detail a closed list of therapeutic resources, which keeps the definition linked to clinical needs and the care guidelines adopted by the SUS.
The concrete application must observe protocols, network availability, and criteria defined by public health services.
Project originated in the National Congress
Law No. 15,413/2026 originated from Bill No. 4,928/2023, presented in the Senate by Senator Damares Alves, from the Republicans of the Federal District.
The proposal advanced in Congress with the aim of inserting a specific provision on the mental health of children and adolescents in the SUS into the ECA.
In the Senate, the project received a favorable opinion from Senator Flávio Arns, from the PSB of Paraná, before proceeding to the Chamber of Deputies.
In the Chamber, the proposal was approved in February 2026, a stage that preceded the presidential sanction and the publication of the new law in the Official Gazette of the Union.
The process resulted in a direct amendment to the Statute of the Child and Adolescent, legislation that organizes rights and duties related to the comprehensive protection of this audience.
With the inclusion of Article 11-A, mental health is now explicitly mentioned among the legal guarantees ensured to children and adolescents.
Public network will have to organize access to care
The new norm does not replace existing health policies but reinforces the obligation for the SUS to provide care compatible with the mental health demands of childhood and adolescence.
Execution will depend on the coordination between primary care, specialized services, emergency, and hospitals.
States and municipalities will have a direct role in organizing care, as a large part of the SUS services is executed in local networks.
The Union, in turn, participates in financing, formulating national guidelines, and supporting the implementation of public health policies.
The challenge will be to transform the legal forecast into real access, with trained teams, defined referral flows, and services capable of meeting different levels of need.
The law establishes the guarantee; the effective offer will depend on the structuring of the network and the monitoring of its application.
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