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Racial Equity and Mental Health
  • Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Self-Care and Healing 
    • This 3-part roundtable series focuses on what mental health looks like in the time of COVID-19. This specific video is about the self-care and healing of Asian American, Native Hawaiin, and Pacific Islanders and acknowledging its importance and even difficulty given cultural factors. The objective of the roundtable is to acknowledge these factors while also generating solutions and an understanding of self-care and healing’s importance.
  • PTTC Building Health Equity and Inclusion Webpage 
    • This resource list was developed by the PTTC Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Practices Work Group, and represents a compilation of resources produced by the PTTC Network to help individuals understand the impact of culture and identity in prevention efforts. The list includes resources for multiple racial and gender groups, as well as adolescents and veterans. 
Youth, Mental Health and Employment
    • The Trevor Project's National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health gives a deeper dive into the lived realities of LGBTQ+ young people including an increase in rates of suicidal thoughts, options for support, and where more needs to be done. 
    • This chart provides a quick overview of what different states have done to address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma-informed policies. 
    • A. Margot Blair gives a presentation taking us along with her story (and the adversity she faced), informing us on the impact of adverse experiences as a child, and helping us figure out what advocacy looks like in our world. 
    • Take the ACE Quiz to find your score of adverse childhood experiences, what it means and how to manage it. 
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    • Sound Alarm seeks to raise awareness through stories of child and adolescent mental health that has been accelerated by the pandemic. 
    • Multiplying Connections produces trauma-informed products and seeks to connect youth to caring adults.
    • This source takes you to a recorded Finance Committee Hearing of the US Congress. Two senators made statements regarding the topic of protecting youth mental health. They both agreed that the mental health of youth is an important issue especially given the exacerbated effect the pandemic has had on such youth. 
  • Resource Guide to Trauma-Informed Human Services 

    • This guide provides human services leaders at the local, State, Tribal, and Territorial levels with information and resources on recent advances in our understanding of trauma, toxic stress, and executive functioning. It especially highlights what these advances mean for program design and service delivery. The guide helps professionals learn about trauma-informed care and helps those currently engaged in trauma-informed work to improve their practice. 

  • Mentoring Youth Impacted by Opioids 

    • This webinar hosted by MENTOR will address considerations for mentoring programs serving youth and families impacted by opioid and substance misuse. 

  • What Youth with Mental Health Needs Should Know 
    • This fact sheet is meant to guide youth with mental health needs on how to navigate the workforce with their conditions. It informs youth on what a disability/mental health disability is, common concerns that might come with working with a disability, how to disclose it to your employer, and more useful tips and information on what they should know.

  • Work and Well Being: A Guide for People with Mental Health Conditions.
    • This guide is meant to support individuals with mental health conditions to find jobs that work for them. It starts by acknowledging the importance that employment has on those with mental health conditions. The guide goes on to inform you how to obtain and navigate employment, as well as advocate for yourself at work.
  • Job Accommodation Network
    • A huge diverse resource that includes webinars, publications, information about the Americans with Disabilities Act, and disability accommodations. Anyone can contact JAN and talk to a staff person for specific help with accommodations.
  • Training Resource Network  

    • The Training Resource Network has a variety of publications including the book Recovery and Employment: A Guide to Employing People with Psychiatric Disabilities. They also offer web-based training on a wide variety of topics.

  • Mental Health America 

    • Mental Health America gives advice on how to use meaningful work as a part of your road to recovery. They give information on different types of work, supported employment, work-related issues you may face, and much more.

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness 

    • The National Alliance on Mental Illness has a search page and this source is pre-linked to take you to a search full of sources involving employment and mental health.

  • IPS Center    

    • The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model has proven to be one of the most effective strategies to help people with mental health disabilities become employed. This site informs you on what IPS is, its principles, and its effect.

  • Society For Human Resources Management   

    • Information and articles for employers about mental health can be found on this page produced by the Society for Human Resources Management.

  • Improving Employment Outcomes of People With Psychiatric and Other Disabilities 

    • The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded the Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Psychiatric Disorders and Other Disabilities Project to identify effective programs that help individuals with psychiatric disorders find and retain employment. A second goal of the project was to explore how these programs can be funded through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other sources. 

  • Self-Care And Intersectionality in the Workplace 
    • You can’t properly help others without helping yourself. This presentation is meant to teach viewers how to understand personal identity and its effect on self-care in the workplace, support others while also taking care of yourselves, and teach you to make your own wellness plan. The presenters address how our identities aren’t one-dimensional and every part of us interacts with each other. 

  

COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health
    • This NYEC workshop takes a deeper dive into the impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous and Tribal populations. The presenters demonstrate a unique edge as they all align with Native American tribes and were able to give insights based on personal experience. 
    • This report takes a statistical dive into how COVID-19 had an impact on foster youth. Looking at the interactive charts and maps you can see how the pandemic impacted foster youth in regard to housing, money, education, and more.
  • How COVID-19 Affects Mental Health Disparities for Vulnerable Youth 

    • Black, Indigenous, and other youth of color (BIYOC); youth involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems; and other traditionally underserved youth already are impacted at levels worse than their white or non-system involved peers, further hindering their ability to survive and thrive during the pandemic. The American Youth Policy Forum acknowledges this challenge and is addressing these disparities in this article. 

  • COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit – Adolescence 

    • CDC’s COVID-19 Parental Resource Kit: Ensuring Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-being can help support parents, caregivers, and other adults serving children and young people in recognizing children and young people’s social, emotional, and mental challenges and helping to ensure their well-being. 

  • Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) 

    • CDC released new data from the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) highlighting the magnitude of the challenges our nation’s youth faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

  • COVID-19 Disparities Webinar: How to Support Racial & Ethnic Minority Students
    • This webinar, presented by Dr. Briana Woods-Jaeger, examined the various adversities experienced by racial and ethnic minority students as a result of the outbreak COVID-19. Additionally, this webinar highlighted how teachers and school staff can provide support to students disproportionately affected by incorporating cultural humility practices in a school/classroom setting.
  • Responding to COVID-19 Anxiety & Return to Work/School 
    • Returning to school or work in this current phase of COVID is perhaps less isolating, but still a time of stress and anxiety. Below we highlight resources developed by our Network and other reputable national organizations for individuals returning back to work and school in person.

  • Ask a Peer: COVID-19 Vaccine Q&A for Youth and Families
    • With walk-in vaccine appointments now available across Massachusetts, this panel of early psychosis peer specialists and local vaccine experts are here to share their experiences. Join the New England MHTTC for a presentation and open conversation on the COVID-19 vaccine, equity, and mental health.

NYEC Mental Health Workshops & Convening Materials
    • Created by the Trading and Upgrading Fund, this PowerPoint presentation is meant to teach how programs can support helping young people habitualize change. The presentation uses a unique social media activity as an example to help demonstrate how their method of habitualizing change can be applied. 
  • From Pink Slip to Paycheck! How to Help Youth Survive Layoffs and Get Back into Job Search 
    • This presentation provides the reader with strategies to help youth overcome being laid off. From providing the dos and don’ts to helpful ways to engage with these youth, this presentation is meant to help develop the reader into a good support system for these youth. 
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Hotlines and Helplines
  • 988 Hotline
    • 988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 
  • Crisis Text Line Text “HELLO” to 741741
    • The Crisis Text hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the U.S. The Crisis Text Line serves anyone, in any type of crisis, connecting them with a crisis counselor who can provide support and information. 
  • SAMHSA National Hotline 1-800-662-HELP (4357) TTY: 1-800-487-4889 Text: Send your zip code via text message to: 435748 (HELP4U)
    • SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders. 
  • Warmline Directory by State
    • Warmlines offer a place to call when you are not in a crisis but want or need to talk to someone. Warmlines are usually free, confidential, and run by people who understand what it’s like to struggle with mental health problems. If possible, it’s a good idea to call a warmline in your state or in another state nearby. If there’s no warmline in your state or if you feel uncomfortable calling a local line, many warmlines do accept calls from all over the country.  
  • The Safe Space
    • The Safe Space is home to free resources and tools to provide extra support in an emotionally safe environment. The Safe Space is funded by SAMHSA and is run by Vibrant.org, the non-profit organization that also runs the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. Resources for Helping Youth Cope after a Mass Shooting | Youth.gov The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP) has compiled a list of resources to help youth, families, educators, and community members cope with and talk about community trauma, as well as provide psychological first aid. 
  • The Trevor Project
    • Call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678. A national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth. 
  • Trans Lifeline
    • Dial 877-565-8860 for US and 877-330-6366 for Canada. Trans Lifeline’s Hotline is a peer support service run by transgender people, for transgender and questioning callers. 
  • NAMI Hotline/Chat 
    • Call 1-800-950-NAMI (1-800-950-6264) for the NAMI HelpLine, a free, nationwide peer-support service providing information, resource referrals and support to people living with a mental health condition, their family members and caregivers, mental health providers, and the public. HelpLine staff and volunteers are experienced, well-trained, and able to provide guidance. 
  • SAMHSA Advisory: Peer Support Services in Crisis Care
    • This advisory discusses the role of peer support workers and models of peer support services that are available to assist individuals who are experiencing a crisis. Peer support services are a vital component of crisis care.

Report Background

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy released a 2021 report on the state of youth mental health, which shed light on the alarming rates of mental, emotional, development, and behavioral disorders only exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) conducted a nationwide survey to understand the readiness of youth programs across the US to respond to the youth mental health pandemic; the processes and systems providers have in place to fight the crisis; and what supports they need to combat this ongoing, life-threatening challenge. The survey yielded 563 responses across 49 of the states.

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Key Findings

Most youth employment programs indicated that their youth cannot access mental health services when they need them. Sixty percent of respondents estimated that fewer than half the youth could access mental health support in their community when needed. 

 

Anxiety and Depression are the most observed mental health conditions among youth. 93% of all respondents stated that they have “observed” anxiety amongst their youth, while 90% of respondents stated they “observed” depression.  

 

64% of respondents did not have a process for screening and/or monitoring youth people for mental health needs. Moreover, 60% of these respondents estimated that more than half of their youth need mental health support.  

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More Key Findings

89% of respondents indicated they did not have sufficient resources to deliver quality mental health training to staff. 72% of respondents do not track if youth receive needed mental services. 

 

External stressors, mental health stigma, and lack of access underlie and exacerbate the youth mental health crisis.

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From Our Focus Group

“I just wish more people like me who have a hard time making friends and keeping friends and, you know, putting myself out there had a program or some sort of network to be able to talk with someone or simply just have a companion. Um, I can only imagine how many people who feel different or you know, are different from other people, bullied - how they, they may feel alone and things do happen like suicide.”

-23-year-old, African American woman, suburban city, Georgia 

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Recommendations

Acknowledge and directly address stressors contributing to the mental health crisis including but not limited to structural racism, generational trauma, affordable housing, economic inequality, etc.

 

Encourage mental health screenings upon intake into the workforce development and other human-services systems.

 

Increase training for frontline practitioners in the workforce development and other human services fields, so they can identify mental health warning signs and make initial assessments Increase the availability of mental health services with dedicated funding for in-house services among WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) providers.

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