The JHF Teen Mental Health Collaborative has been hard at work since launching in late 2020. Representatives of the 14 grantee organizations have attended several virtual meetings, during which the Collaborative has defined their objectives for working together to better serve teens in their communities. Meetings include spotlights on each Collaborative member, so each can learn about the others' work.
Collaborative meetings include opportunities for members to learn from one another, for example, about successful strategies to engage teens and families. The Collaborative is working to identify opportunities to better integrate community health with traditional health systems. Members have identified that the Collaborative can leverage their strengths, including involving youth voice, creating safe spaces for teens, and their commitment to supporting holistic, equitable teen mental health, to combine efforts and make the case for the community's role in promoting teen mental health.
JHF will continue to serve as the facilitator for these meetings and identify opportunities where the Collaborative can advocate for policy change and improve quality of care.