Mental Health America (MHA) is now accepting applications for their 2022-2023 Young Mental Health Leaders Council!

YMHLC identifies young adults (ages 18-25) who have created programs and initiatives that fill gaps in mental health resources in their communities. From policy to apps and peer support to sports, MHA’s young adult leaders are making a difference to meet the needs of their peers. Selected applicants participate in a six-month cohort to connect and share ideas with other leaders from across the U.S.

In addition to attending monthly 90-minute meetings over a six-month term, YMHLC members will:

• Receive one-on-one mentoring for their programmatic and professional growth
• Gain leadership opportunities at MHA and with MHA partners
• Highlight their work and ideas via MHA’s social media and young adult mental health resources
• Present at MHA local and national events and with MHA partners
• Join a network of young mental health leaders and MHA affiliates
• Receive a $1,000 stipend

In line with MHA’s founding and history of lived-experience leadership, the YMHLC centers lived experience as essential to meeting the mental health needs of youth and young adults today.

Youth and young adult mental health is worsening, and young people are living in vastly different circumstances than we have ever seen before. To improve the well-being of young people, YMHLC amplifies and grows the work of young leaders who best understand the challenges and opportunities to support their peers.

Click here to learn more or apply today!

Applications are due Friday, Aug. 19.
Selected applicants will be notified by Sept. 16.

Questions? Email Kelly Davis, MHA’s associate vice president of peer and youth advocacy, at [email protected].

Download a copy of the proclamation here: Mental Health Awareness Week for Children, Youth, and Their Families

As a part of his Unity Agenda proposed during his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Biden outlined a vision to help address our nation’s mental health crisis.

Then plan includes strategies to help ensure the rising number of children and youth with mental health needs across out nation get the help they need when they need it by addressing barriers such as the extreme shortage of behavioral health providers  and much more. The plan also includes a focus on expanding peer support and several other issues at the heart of the mission of ACMH and important to youth and families across our state.

Click here to view the White House Fact Sheet and learn more about the Biden Administration’s vision on how together we can “transform how mental health is understood, perceived, accessed, treated, and integrated – in and out of health care settings”. Helping to to ensure that everyone who needs help can access care when and where they seek it!

White House Fact Sheet – Strategies to Address Our National Mental Health Crisis

Interested in sharing your opinion or views on this issue or your personal experiences, concerns or ideas about current efforts to reform mental health services and supports in Michigan. Click here to find your Senator and share your voice today!

Parents and Caregivers:

Last year, the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health surveyed families to better understand the incredible challenges so many were facing. The 1,100 families who completed the anonymous survey provided critical information about how the pandemic was impacting them and their children, especially in terms of academic progress, mental and behavioral health and substance use. As a result, they created a compelling infographic which was shared with SAMHSA and countless national partners and support organizations.

Now they invite you to participate in the second edition of our “How is School Affecting Children’s and Families’ Mental Health During COVID-19”survey. The survey is open to all caregivers with children of any age living at home who are in an educational program – at any level – or who chose to leave an educational program during the pandemic. Results of the survey will once again provide us with valuable information about the challenges families are experiencing and will inform our advocacy efforts at the national level. We hope you will share the survey with other parents and caregivers you know. Hearing from as many families as possible will only strengthen our ability to represent family voice.

You can access the survey by clicking here.