Youth who struggle with their mental health have become a central and defining challenge for schools and communities in California and beyond. Rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, and social disconnection among children and teens are on the rise, while we’re also facing a critical shortage of qualified mental health professionals, especially in K-12 schools.

The Forum on the State of Youth Mental Health will convene leading voices to discuss today’s challenges and opportunities. Panelists will discuss the far-reaching impacts that federal immigration enforcement actions, detentions, and deportations have had on children and adults alike. We will also explore how to prepare a school and community-based mental health workforce who are responsive to the most urgent mental health needs of our communities. Together, we will learn how to approach charged topics of division, injustice, and strife in schools and communities with care; and discover how collaboration among educators, school leaders, policymakers, and practitioners can strengthen needed systems of support.

Attendees will include principals, educational leaders, policymakers, practitioners and clinicians, district and community partners, and other stakeholders invested in the mental health of our youth.