Youth mental health is the focus of a new community-wide coalition
By David Holthaus, Soapbox Cincinnati
A broad coalition of people from organizations that connect with Greater Cincinnati teens and young adults has created a long-term strategy to improve the mental health of youth, which many say has reached a crisis.
The new organization is called Hopeful Empowered Youth, and goes by the acronym HEY!, a name and abbreviation suggested in part by youth members of the organization, who will continue to play a key role in the effort.
The group has released a 10-year plan designed to improve the environment that youth find themselves in today by changing practices, policies, and attitudes in schools, the mental health system, and the community at large.