Advisor to National Governors Association Chairman’s Initiative on Youth Mental Health

Amy’s leadership

Under Amy’s leadership The Kennedy Forum
recommends youth mental health policies including but not limited to…

• Introducing effective tools and creating accessible pathways for families, parents, and youth to understand and participate in their mental health care
  • Implementing standards for K-12 mental health education and building capacity for mental health literacy for youth and their families
• Maximizing access and capacity of school-based and school-linked mental health services and supports
  • Building in-school capacity through school-based providers and peer support
  • Building community capacity through school-linked mental health services, partnerships with community providers, and telehealth services
  • Improving ratios of school mental health professionals such as school psychologists and social workers
  • Maximizing Medicaid coverage of school services (Free Care Rule Reversal)
  • Creating comprehensive and accessible youth-specific crisis supports in schools, homes and community settings, including:
    • • • Youth mobile crisis response teams
        • Youth-specific crisis stabilization to reduce emergency department overcapacity issues
        • Coordination between schools, juvenile justice and crisis/intensive mental health
        • Public education about 988 and crisis services
• Promoting supportive school environments that end disparities in suspensions, exclusions, and incidence of bullying
• Integrating mental health and substance use care into primary care for children and adolescents
  • • Examining provider rates to support integration of care
    • Reviewing contract requirements in Medicaid

Find Amy’s full slate of youth mental health policy
 recommendations here.

Find Amy’s youth mental health policy
 recommendations that intersect with maternal
 mental health here.