Dear friends and colleagues,

First Focus on Children invites you to join us today, Wednesday, March 16 from 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET for a virtual congressional briefing to discuss the mental health crisis among our nation’s youth. During the briefing, we will hear from experts and mental health advocates on how we can tackle the issue — and take a deeper dive into the importance of robust mental health services available to all children and adolescents. This conversation will be the first in a multi-week virtual briefing series marking the second anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

There is a severe mental health crisis impacting our nation's young children, teens, and adolescents, which has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on the topic, bringing much-needed attention to the problem. President Biden noted the mental health crisis in his State of the Union address with an emphasis on expanding access to mental health services in schools, colleges, and universities. And Congress has recently held multiple, bipartisan hearings on youth mental health, affirming its commitment to addressing this serious crisis.

Click here to register for today's Mental Health briefing.  You may also register for the entire Kids and COVID Conversation Series throughout the months of March and April when you go to the link. 

During this briefing, we will hear from U.S Senator Tina Smith, a Champion for Children and a longtime advocate for youth mental health who has introduced legislation to tackle this problem specifically in schools.

Our panelists include:

• Trace Terrell - Youth Advocate and Lead Intervention and Outreach Specialist, YouthLine (a free, confidential, teen-to-teen crisis line), Oregon

• Miriam Calderón - Chief Policy Officer, ZERO TO THREE, Washington, DC

• Dr. Sharon Hoover, Ph.D - Professor, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Co-Director of the National Center for School Mental Health; Director, National Center for Safe Supportive Schools; University of Maryland School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD

• Scott Hutchins - Mental Health and Medicaid Coordinator, Michigan Department of Education, Lansing, MI

For any questions, please e-mail Elaine Dalpiaz at elained@FirstFocus.org or Averi Pakulis at averip@FirstFocus.org.