The Association for Children’s Mental Health stands in solidarity with the families and communities of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other black Americans who have died at the hands of police officers. We reject white supremacy, racism, and the suggestion that any individual or group has less value than another. We stand for equity, inclusion and justice. In support of our families, friends, and colleagues of color, ACMH will continue working to end institutional racism in all forms.
ACMH recognizes that the best way to change minds and policy is to empower individuals and families with information, resources and support and most importantly to truly listen to the expertise of those with lived experience. We will use this page to share information, resources and voices that we hope are useful as you work to help yourself, your family and/or your community better understand and take action against racism.
Information and Resources
Resources to Help Talk to Kids About Race, Racism and Social Justice
EmbraceRace is an organization dedicated to Raising a Generation of Children Who Are Thoughtful, Informed, and Brave About Race. Like ACMH, EmbraceRace was founded by two parents (one Black, the other multiracial Black/White) who set out to create the community and gather the resources they needed (need!) to meet the challenges they face raising children in a world where race matters. Since that time, EmbraceRace has grown into a multiracial community of parents, teachers, experts, and other caring adults who support each other to meet the challenges that race poses to our children, families, and communities.
EmbraceRace has worked to create a great collection of tools and resources you may find helpful, including:
- 16 ways to help children become thoughtful, informed, and BRAVE about race
- 10 tips for teaching and talking to kids about race
- 7 ways to support the young activists in your life!
How to Talk to Your Kids About Racism Video
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms takes questions along with CNN’s Van Jones and Erica Hill about how to combat racism, and shares a message with kids about how to make a change.
Raising Race Conscious Children Website has a lot of great resources including:
Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race
How to Explain Racism to a Child – in 5 steps from Wiki-How to Do Anything
Resources for Adults
First, Listen. Then, Learn: Anti-Racism Resources For White People
Resources for Service Providers
Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth a guide for practitioners from the
APA Working Group for Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Youth Mental Health
ACMH Core Values – Highlight on Diversity & Social Justice
Recent months have not only brought unexpected challenges and changes related to Covid-19 but have also included events that have focused a national spotlight on social justice issues and ongoing systematic racism across our country – Making this a fitting time to highlight the following two core values outlined in the ACMH Code of Ethics:
- ACMH’s commitment to welcoming all families and honoring our differences, and
- ACMH’s commitment to non-judgmental, respectful attitudes and behavior.
ACMH has always been committed to supporting All families as individuals with unique needs in a way that respects & acknowledges their individual culture, values, and beliefs and their goals and desires for their family. But we recognize that we too – must do more in order to help recognize and extinguish systematic racism in our country. We have taken time recently both as individuals and as a staff to reflect upon these values and will continue to explore the role race and other ‘family culture’ factors play in the lives & experiences of the families and communities we support. We recognize that it is impossible to truly understand what it means to live with racism unless we have experienced it first hand, but we are committed to continuing to listen and learn so we can both strengthen our understanding of how direct experience with racism affects the youth and families we serve to better support them and become more knowledgeable so we are better equipped to stand up and speak out alongside those who are treated as less than simply because of the color of their skin and demand change, equality and respect!
ACMH believes that the best way to change minds and policy is to empower individuals with the information, resources and support they need to navigate the challenges that affect their lives and communities and most importantly to truly listen to the expertise of those with lived experience who are in a unique position to guide us in creating positive and useful change. We also know that any type of true change requires us as individuals and collectively as an organization, community and a people to stand up and speak out for what we believe and support. The Association for Children’s Mental Health stands in solidarity with the families and communities of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other black Americans who have died at the hands of police officers. We reject white supremacy, racism, and the suggestion that any individual or group has less value than another. We stand for equity, inclusion and justice. In support of our families, friends, and colleagues of color, we will continue working to end institutional racism in all forms.
ACMH also recognizes that real and lasting change requires people to not only learn, change, adapt and grow but also to ACT. Some of our recent efforts include focusing a staff retreat and dedicating staff meetings to have important discussions on how we as individuals and as an agency can do better to combat racism. We also created a Social Justice Page on our website and gathered and shared information and resources we hope will be helpful to you as you navigate this issue with your family and community. We plan to continue to dedicate our resources and utilize our platforms and current opportunities for real conversations and action to listen, learn and share information, resources and voices that we hope are useful as we and families across our state work to better understand and stand together, demand equality and take action against racism as well as keep ourselves and everyone in our communities safe, healthy and happy.