Decoding your teen: Cleo offers a playbook for working parents

Working parents already have their hands full when it comes to raising teenagers, but the right benefits can help ease the stress, for everyone.

Fifty-three percent of parents have missed work at least once a month to deal with their children's mental health, and 54% have interrupted their work day at least once a month to address their teenager’s mental health needs, according to child advocacy group On Our Sleeves. These startling statistics pushed benefits company Cleo to expand their benefits to cover teenage beneficiaries, too.

Cleo is expanding their platform with a new benefit called Cleo Teens, which will provide mental health resources, sexual health education, academic assistance, social development and gender identity exploration, as well as a real person guide parents have access to 27/7. The resources are a much-needed way to help parents and teens navigate these challenging topics, says Sarahjane Sacchetti, CEO of Cleo.

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“Most parents of teenagers would say they don't have a playbook and that they're mystified,” Sacchetti says. “And that lack of a playbook has now turned into something much more severe because the issues facing teenagers are more severe.”

In the last two years, teens’ mental health has been on the decline — the prevalence of depression and anxiety for those ages 13 to 17 has doubled during the pandemic, according to recent data from the Pew Research Center. And when kids are having a hard time at home, parents start having a hard time at work.

“[Parenting] is a continuous battle to balance and integrate work and life,” Sacchetti says. “And it's never been harder. So how do we create support around the family infrastructure?”

Cleo has been answering this question with a variety of family planning resources during the pandemic and beyond. Their benefits suite includes Cleo Baby, which offers prenatal and early parenting resources. More recently, they expanded their coverage to Cleo Kids, which covers children ages five to 12, as demand for their services grew following the success of Cleo Baby.

While these offerings focused on preventative care and measures, Cleo Teens is more focused on communication and mental health interventions, Sachetti says, issues that often lack attention from service providers.

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“Teenage mental health is not at a precarious point — it's at a full crisis point,” she says. “Parents who had kids over 12 were literally saying ‘What about me?’ because there really aren't traditional benefits that support them.”

Cleo Teens will begin to help a parent understand how to communicate with their teenagers, according to Sacchetti. The guides explore how to safely and supportively intervene when a teen is in crisis, and understand signals and signs.

Sacchetti says it’s important for employers to shift their concept of parenthood, and their benefits plans should, too.

“Employers are starting to understand that [parenting] is not just a moment in time,” Sacchetti says. “It’s a continuation.”