Dear John,
This is a back-to-school season like no other.

While many children and youth are excited to be back to in-person learning, there’s no question that the trauma, stress, and isolation COVID brought have taken a toll – on students and parents alike. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tracked sharp increases in suicide attempts by adolescent girls, prolonged emergency room visits for mental health issues among youth, and young adults needing and receiving treatment for mental health problems.

Sadly, it’s something many of us are seeing firsthand. That’s why I want to share some of the resources we’ve created and information we’re sharing to help address our country’s youth mental health crisis.

Changing Minds

Many of the powerful materials FUTURES has created are available, in English and Spanish, on our Changing Minds NOW website, including:

• How School Staff Can Help Students Heal from Trauma, which helps teachers, school nurses and others understand how violence affects child development and promote resilience.
• Five Everyday Gestures to Help Children Heal, which explains how to be a supportive, caring adult who helps prevent or mitigate trauma through everyday gestures like comforting, listening, inspiring, collaborating, and celebrating.
• Our tool for Juvenile and Family Courts which explains how judges and child-serving professionals can promote healing and avoid re-traumatizing youth by creating child- and family-friendly courtrooms, being thoughtful about services, and more.

Changing Minds NOW also offers resources for mentors and school nurses, and powerful first-person stories about how school staff, coaches, and others have supported youth to overcome trauma and helped others do so too.

In addition, the CDC published a terrific set of resources to help children and youth transition back to school and to early care and education programs, including what teachers, administrators, parents, and schools can do to ease their transition.

And because, in all our work, we pay particular attention to the most vulnerable children and youth, we want to share a link to the LGBTQ+ Families and Schools Study being fielded by GLSEN, which works to ensure that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. GLSEN is fielding a survey for LGBTQ+ parents and caregivers, and another for youth with at least one LGBTQ+ parent or caregiver. Take one of the surveys here http://go.futureswithoutviolence.org/e/858853/familystudy/23h1gv/401321743?h=5yOwuWY069C56OE7CjxWF-udkE8_HrlekdE7Fy8fYxo and/or share the link.

Millions of Dollars Secured

Finally, as you know, we worked hard to ensure that the bipartisan gun violence prevention law enacted this summer includes resources to support youth mental health. Because of that law, new funds will soon be available to strengthen school-based mental health, crisis intervention, and violence prevention programs, train mental health workers, and support community behavioral health clinics. Our new summary describes the new law. We are working with state and federal agencies on implementation and to ensure those funds are used in ways that promote mental health instead of to “harden” schools in ways that often harm Black and Brown students and those with disabilities. We encourage advocates to engage with local school systems to ensure the new funding is used appropriately. We will share additional information as it becomes available. 

Working together, we can solve our country’s youth mental health crisis and give all our kids the chance to thrive this school year. Thank you for all you are doing to heal our children and strengthen our communities!​​​​

Esta Soler Founder & President