ALBANY, N.Y. — Advocates from the Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS) met with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in discussion of her continuous investments in resources for the mental health of young New Yorkers.
“We are working closely with mental health advocates and service providers to ensure young New Yorkers have access to the support they need,” Governor Hochul said. “But even as we continue making progress, I know we still have more work to do. Meeting with advocates and families across the state has only reinforced my commitment to advance legislation to combat addictive social media feeds and protect kids online.”
Governor Hochul wants to expand access to Mental Health First Aid training programs to youth and teens. This will allow residents to help their friends, family, or others in the community who face challenges with mental health or substance abuse. $1.5 million from the State Office of Mental Health has been given to support these programs that offer training for adults or teens.
Youth Mental Health First Aid teaches people ways to identify, understand, and respond to children and adolescents' (ages 12-18) signs of mental health and substance abuse challenges. The Teen Mental Health First Aid uses an evidence-based curriculum to teach teens how to support friends and classmates.
In addition, the Governor is also focused on the harm of social media and plans to advance legislation by the end of June, including the Stop Additive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act.
The CEO of MHANYS Glenn Liebman said, “Governor Hochul’s deep commitment to mental health programming has had transformative impacts for young New Yorkers in our community and throughout the state. As we continue our work, we hear often from young people and their families about the challenges regarding excessive social media use – and we applaud the Governor’s focus on addressing this issue as quickly as possible.”
Last week, students from Williamsville East High School got an opportunity to sit down and talk to Governor Kathy Hochul about youth mental health and the impact social media has on teens.
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