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Dear Friends,
I hope you and your loved ones had a restful and joyful Thanksgiving holiday. Earlier in November, our nation saw a historic midterm election in which democracy prevailed. We know that many people are struggling here in South Jersey and across the country as we navigate economic setbacks and long-term impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic, and that new and diverse leaders will be driving meaningful change as we face the next chapter of our nation.
I’m so thankful to Tim Alexander who ran a positive and people-centered campaign here in New Jersey’s second district. While we didn’t get the result we wanted, it’s leaders like him that can and will bring change locally and beyond.
Here are other highlights from November:
Youth Mental Health Spotlight: How Dental Cleanings become Mental Health Screenings…
Our children’s mouths are a wealth of information. If dentists incorporate mental health screenings into patient visits, with the proper training they can catch warning signs and have the tools and understanding to make connections for families in need of support. [link removed] Read my latest blog post for The Kennedy Forum to learn more. [ [link removed] ]
Building Hope with Inseparable
Chief Policy Officer David Llloyd, Policy Advisor Lauren Finke and I attended Inseparable’s mental health strategy summit “Building Hope” in Washington, D.C., on behalf of The Kennedy Forum. David spoke at the conference about the key tenets of mental health parity. It was inspiring to be part of a group of leaders committed to making the transformational change we need in mental health and substance use care.

Banning Sale of Diet Pills to Minors
I had the opportunity to [link removed] testify before the New Jersey Assembly Health Committee in support of A3512 [ [link removed] ], a bill to prohibit the sale of diet pills and weight loss supplements to minors. The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued two recent reports strongly cautioning against teens using these products for any reason. This legislation, a commonsense solution to protect our children's bodies and brains from these harmful supplements, has since [link removed] advanced in the Assembly [ [link removed] ].
Congratulations to NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin
It was an honor to attend the investiture ceremony for Attorney General Matt Platkin. Congratulations, Matt!

Monitoring the Upheaval at Twitter
I’m very concerned about the ongoing situation at Twitter, from the misguided scheme to let anyone pay for “blue check” authentication to the more troubling plan to restore accounts that had been disabled due to misinformation, harassment, and hateful or bigoted conduct.
While I have no immediate plans to leave [link removed] Twitter [ [link removed] ], if that changes I’ll be sure to share updates via this newsletter. In the meantime, I hope you’ll stay connected with me on [link removed] Facebook [ [link removed] ], [link removed] Instagram [ [link removed] ]and [link removed] LinkedIn [ [link removed] ].

Family Celebrations
Harper was recognized by Ocean City High School as 9th grade student of the month for October – we couldn’t be prouder! Nora celebrated turning nine on November 19th with birthday pancakes, our elf “Peppermint” baked a birthday cinnamon surprise for Nellie’s 7th birthday on November 29th, and I got some great homemade cards from my wonderful kids to celebrate my own birthday.

Hate Has No Home Here
Join me at the Community School Auditorium in Brigantine, NJ, tonight, Thursday, December 1 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. for a critical anti-hate event. In recent months Brigantine and the larger U.S. community have been touched by dangerous antisemitism.
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We have a duty to disavow this hate publicly, consistently, and wholeheartedly. [link removed] Please join us in the fight against hate. [ [link removed] ]
All the best,
Amy Kennedy
Pronouns: She/Her

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