IHS & SAMHSA Partner for Children's Mental Health Awareness Day - May 7

Indian Health Service (IHS) is joining the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to participate in National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day: Thriving in the Community. This work is part of a national effort to fulfill the action steps set forth in "Transforming Mental Health Care in America, The Federal Action Agenda: First Steps," which outlines steps necessary to make mental health services and supports more accessible and effective for children, youth, and families across the United States.

National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day is a day for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities to promote positive youth development, resilience, recovery, and the transformation of mental health services delivery for AI/AN children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families. Awareness Day raises awareness of effective programs for children's mental health needs; demonstrates how children's mental health initiatives promote positive youth development, recovery, and resilience; and shows how children with mental health needs thrive in their communities. The theme for this year's national event is Thriving in the Community, with a special emphasis on how high school youth who receive the services they need are more likely to have positive outcomes, such as better grades, and less likely to have negative outcomes, such as involvement with the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

To help you plan your program's local activities in Indian Country, the Caring for Every Child's Mental Health Campaign developed the Awareness Day Planning Notebook. This technical assistance tool contains tips, resources, and ideas to help you shape Awareness Day activities. The following link will connect you to some of the Notebook's key resources:

http://www.tapartnership.org/resources/awarenessday.asp

Please join IHS, SAMHSA, and other partners in promoting National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day in your community on May 7. Thank you.