ACMH
ACMH is pleased to announce that we are gearing up to re-launch the ACMH Statewide Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) and accepting applications for new members now through Monday, November 1st.
YAC is a great leadership opportunity for youth who are passionate about mental health and want to use their voice to make a difference! Check out the informational documents below to learn more or apply today!
Statewide Youth Advisory Committee Application
Steps to Become a Youth Advisory Committee Member
In August of 2021, the National Federation of Families hosted a series of roundtable discussions with Executive Directors of family-run organizations from across the nation. The The Impact of COVID-19 -How Are Families Doing 18 Months In? Insights From Family Leaders in 27 States infographic was created to capture their insights about vaccine hesitancy and the toll the pandemic is taking on families and their staff.
Download it here: COVID ED Infographic FFCMH
Click here to read the September 19th edition and here for the April 25th Friday Update which includes an interview with our friend and longtime Family Advocate, Barbara Huff.
Be sure to check out some previous editions as well, including:
The February 19th Friday Update which contains eye opening information about the pandemics affect on youth mental health including a link to a great NPR article, one highlighting mental health disparities and the importance of investing in the mental health of youth of color and Italian study looking at parent exhaustion during the pandemic. Check it out today!
ACMH is pleased to share links to the Children’s Mental Health Network Friday Update. The Children’s Mental Health Network is a national network bringing together the voices of children’s mental health. Each Friday Update brings the latest news in children’s mental health, a Morning Zen Blog post and featured resources of interest to families and professionals alike.
Enjoy the reads!
Bridge Michigan just released a three part report on a mental-health crisis facing Michigan children and teens. The series introduces you to families and hospital ER doctors and nurses left to care for children in distress who can’t get the mental-health treatment they deserve, sometimes for weeks. And it begins a conversation on policy solutions to help thousands of young people in crisis.
Click here to read segment one in its entirety.
Click her for the July 1st article Bureaucracy but no beds -Emergency rooms confront ‘tidal wave of sadness’ among young patients.
Click here for the July 2nd article A child mental-health fix takes early action, more help. Here are 7 ideas.
ACMH is thrilled to share that on Thursday, May 6th a resolution to declare May 7, 2021, as Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day in the state of Michigan will be introduced by the Honorable Representative Mary Whiteford on the Michigan House of Representatives Floor.
The resolution calls attention to the importance of children’s mental health and well-being and observance of the annual National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day.
You can view the Live Stream as the bill is introduced by visiting: Michigan House of Representatives and clicking on the House Session streaming “Additional TV Viewing” link under House TV section.
A huge thank you goes out to Representative Mary Whiteford for sponsoring the resolution and all of her work to help spread the word that addressing the mental health needs of children, youth, and families is fundamental to the future of Michigan!
The Children’s Defense Fund recently released the 2021 State of America’s Children’s State Factsheets. Each state factsheet gives you a snapshot of how well children are protected, supported, and cared for in your state by exploring several areas of childhood well-being—from child poverty rates to health insurance coverage and from early childhood enrollment to high school graduation rates.
They invite all of us to learn how children are doing in our state today and then join them in the fight to improve the odds for all children, country-wide.
Click here to view Michigan’s Fact Sheet.
We are so pleased to have WILX help us to spread the news about ACMH’s upcoming Children’s Mental Health Awareness Event # WalkInMyShoes!
Click here to view the April 6th WILX LANSING interview.
Click here to view the Fox 17 in Grand Rapids interview. Here’s the link:
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – In honor of Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, ACMH is offering a three-part virtual event to support youth/young adults and their families in sharing their voices and stories to spread hope, connection and mental health awareness.
Event Schedule:
Strategic Storytelling & Social Media Workshop: April 10th ACMH will hold a workshop to teach youth/young adults and families how to strategically share their mental health journey and se social media as a tool to reach others. Participants will learn how they can get involved in the #walkinmyshoes hashtag events across facebook, Twitter ,Instagram and TikTok.
#WalkInMyShoes Hashtag Event: April 9-May 7th ACMH will makes space for youth and their families to created videos that capture what it’s like to walk in their shoes or share a mental health awareness message that’s meaningful to them. Everyone is welcome to participate. Please share your videos on social media using the #WalkInMyShoes tag.
Then on May 7th, these videos will have showcased in a specials event by the ACMH that shine light on the real experiences of youth and their families on their mental health journey.
This document offers a collection of data points regarding mental health impacts from COVID-19. The purpose of this document is to provide a forecast of the potential mental health impacts of the outbreak to help inform policy makers and behavioral health organizations so they can adequately prepare. Recommendations to support recovery of these needs are offered in a companion document.
Download the complete document here:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health as a Result of Covid: a Michigan Perspective
NBC News’ week-long series, “Kids Under Pressure,” debuts today, revealing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on student well-being and academic engagement.
All this week, TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, along with a team of NBC News anchors and correspondents, will explore the toll of the pandemic on high school students. The reporting will air across TODAY, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC,NBCNews.com, NBC News NOW and StayTuned.
“Kids Under Pressure” is a network-wide initiative driven by original reporting and new data from a groundbreaking study NBC News conducted in partnership with Challenge Success, a nonprofit of the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Surveying over 10,000 students across a range of high schools throughout the country, it’s one of the largest national research studies shedding light on student connection, engagement and mental health during the pandemic. Click here for a comprehensive look at the study.
This morning, NBCNews.com released an in-depth look at the differences between online-only students and those who’ve spent time in school during the pandemic.
Other programming highlights throughout the week include:
Michigan State University PSP Evaluation Project recently shared the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services: Parent Support Partner (PSP) Evaluation Annual Report and Executive Summary for Fiscal Year 2020.
Key findings included that: Parents/caregivers find PSP services to be very helpful and are very likely to recommend the service to a friend; Participation in PSP Services lead to statistically significant increases in parents’ hope, confidence, and empowerment to create positive outcomes for their child and family; and, Child outcomes are indirectly improved when a parent/caregiver participates in PSP services. Click the link below to read the full report:
