Mental Health Press Release
Contact Information
National Youth Employment Coalition
Mimi Haley
Executive Director
Release Date:
September 12, 2022
NATIONAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT COALITION RELEASES YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH REPORT
Washington D.C., September 12, 2022 — The National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) released a report: “Identifying Gaps in Youth Employment Programs’ Capacity to Address Youth Mental Health Needs.” The report was developed following the striking advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General on the youth mental health crisis. The report’s findings are an aggregate of responses from 564 youth-serving entities across 49 states. “This is a crisis of extreme proportion, and it is our duty as practitioners to holistically assist youth in all aspects of their lives as a vital component toward the trajectory of their success not only in the workforce but in their wellbeing.” – Dr. Mary Ann Haley, Executive Director of NYEC.
NYEC’s report found that most youth employment programs indicated that the youth they serve cannot access mental health services when needed nor do they have a screening / monitoring process for identifying and supporting youth mental health needs.
Anxiety and depression were the most observed mental health condition among youth, with over 90% of respondents witnessing it. When attempting to connect youth to mental health supports, 60% percent of respondents estimated that fewer than half of their youth could access mental health supports in their community when needed.
The report elaborates on more findings including barriers to accessing care, challenges providers face in addressing mental health issues, and the specific needs amongst diverse populations such as rural and BIPOC youth. The report also highlights innovative practices that programs can adopt as they strengthen their capacity to address the youth mental health crisis.
Alongside releasing the report, NYEC has launched a mental health resource hub for practitioners, is in the process of launching a blog series on innovative solutions to supporting the field and will be spearheading a mental health workshop series in 2023.
We would like to thank the Annie E. Casey Foundation for funding this research and acknowledge that the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of NYEC, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Foundation.
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