Hopeful Empowered Youth (HEY!) launched today as an organization by sharing its Youth Mental Wellness Needs Assessment and its 10-year strategy to improve youth mental health in the Greater Cincinnati region.

Winstead is now helping the organization devise and implement a 10-year plan that lays out a guide for working with schools and caregivers to improve youth mental health outcomes in a 12-county area.

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.

School hadn’t started yet, but a balmy August evening found a group of mostly teens gathered around a room that looks a lot like a classroom. Some were as young as 16, and together, they’re working on a plan to combat Greater Cincinnati’s youth mental health crisis.

In developing its 10-year strategy, HEY! made a concerted effort to involve the region’s young people. Working with a steering committee, the organization hired youth fellows to be key decision-makers throughout the planning process.