Fountain House's Senior Director of Policy and Communications, Jennifer W., joined The Jed Foundation (JED) for their third-annual policy summit in Washington, D.C. Thank you to JED for the incredible opportunity to speak alongside national leaders around #MentalHealth, #Policy and #AI.
That’s a wrap on JED’s third-annual policy summit in Washington, D.C. 🎉 National leaders across #MentalHealth, education, philanthropy, policy, and youth advocacy united to advance sustainable solutions and protect the emotional well-being of young people at “Meeting the Moment: Sustaining Progress in Youth Mental Health.” Dozens of attendees considered the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) and the role of legislative policies — on the local, state, and federal levels — in shaping mental health support, investments, and resources for students in the digital age. The summit began with an inspiring introduction and framing of the moment by Dr. Zainab Okolo, LCMFT, JED’s senior vice president of policy, advocacy, and government relations, who reflected on the national policy landscape and what it means to sustain progress, and debuted JED’s new policy framework, AI Policy Levers for Youth Mental Health. Conversations continued on new national data, which offered hopeful signs and declines in depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among both teens and young adults from 2021 to 2024. Participants also talked about how youth mental health and suicide prevention progress and impact are being challenged following federal budget cuts, like those to Medicaid, adjacent supports, school-based programs, 988 crisis line services, youth-specific resources, and more. Technologies, such as AI, were also discussed in various panels as posing both promise and threats to youth mental health and well-being. A big thank you to our featured speakers, panelists, and participants, including Michael Satow, JED’s board chair; Congresswoman Becca Balint (VT-AL); Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, president of the Child Mind Institute; Rafael Campos, MBA, MPP, MPS, former deputy director of public engagement at the Office of the Surgeon General; Nicole “Nikki” Clifton, president of The UPS Foundation; Kody Kinsley, former Secretary of Health and Human Services for the state of North Carolina; Dr. William A. Smith, chief executive administrator at Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah; Hollie Chessman, director & principal program officer at American Council on Education; Jennifer W., senior director of policy & communications at Fountain House; Dr. Tony J. Walker, PhD, JED’s senior vice president of school programs and consulting; Dawn Thomsen, JED’s senior vice president of youth strategies and chief engagement officer; Martha Sanchez, JED’s director of policy; and others from Active Minds, Inc.; American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; Annie E. Cassie Foundation; Common Sense Media; Gates Foundation; Mental Health of America; One in Five; RAND Social and Economic Well-Being; State Higher Education Executive Officers Association; Third Way; Trellis Foundation; and more. 📸 Check out highlights from the event here: https://bit.ly/47tOUMz