ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Youth mental health was the focus of the National Governors Association meeting this week in Atlantic City.
Governors from both political parties met to find common ground and solutions to a worsening problem affecting the entire country. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, the association chair, unveiled a youth mental health playbook as a resource for state leaders to use.
“The playbook unpacks the four pillars that guided our chairs' initiative,” Murphy detailed. “Addressing prevention and resilience building, increasing awareness and reducing stigma, ensuring access and affordability of quality treatment and care, and finally, supporting caregivers and teachers.”
Each of these ideas is broken down into additional areas, 13 in all, that governors can focus on, with 35 actions to implement based on needs.
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“These examples can serve as a roadmap for other states so policy makers can frankly rip out the pages of somebody else’s playbook, replicate ideas and benefit from the knowledge of what’s happening and what’s working in other states,” the governor said.
Murphy highlighted some examples that are working in other states, including access to free mental health for kids through a mobile app.
New Jersey has a website and hotline dedicated to connecting young people to mental health services.
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