The Understanding and Addressing the Impact of Racism on Children’s Mental Health is a resource guide for parents, youth, and professionals.
The Coalition acknowledges that racism can have a negative impact on a child’s emotional/social health and that persons from marginalized groups may have poorer mental health. This resource guide speaks to why racism and mental health outcomes are intertwined. It also highlights the need for racial healing and responsive and culturally respectful mental health care.
The resource guide provides parents, youth, and professionals with guidance and resources to build strong mental health and to obtain needed mental health services to regain and maintain social/emotional health in youth from marginalized groups. Individuals will learn about key factors that can protect a child’s mental health and parents will gain practical skills to help foster their child’s mental well-being. The guide offers specific resources for trans-racial families.
The Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York supports open and honest conversations about the importance of mental health. The Coalition understands that these conversations can be difficult and emotionally charged. Thus, this resource guide offers parents, youth and professionals with “courageous conversation” starters to facilitate hard discussions about racism and mental health challenges. It also provides parents and professionals tips on how to engage a youth in these important but emotionally charged talks.
To ensure the safety of youth, this resource guide provides a directory of mental health 24/7 Crisis Lines (phone and text), including targeted services for youth from marginalized groups. For example, there are Crisis Lines specifically for BIPOC youth and youth who identify as LGBTQ+. The resource guide also provides links directly to resources for parents, youth and professionals, including books, videos, and educational sites. In addition, parents and youth can link to local, state and national support groups.
The Understanding and Addressing the Impact of Racism on Children’s Mental Health is a resource guide to support the mental health of youth from marginalized groups. Please share it with youth, parents, and professionals!
This publication has been created as part of the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York’s Anti-Racism and Social Justice Initiative.