Amy Kennedy’s latest blog post offers insights on the dieting and extreme exercise culture that tends to creep in following the holiday season. This time can be particularly challenging for young people who struggle with body dysmorphia and disordered eating. However, there is plenty we can do as parents, caregivers, and advocates to support them through these challenges. For resources, dos & don’ts, and policy priorities, read the full blog here.
In other news...
Amy Kennedy; our Chief Policy Officer, David Lloyd; and our Policy Director, Lauren Finke attended Inseparable’s “Building Hope,” a mental health strategy summit in Washington, D.C. on November 16. Lloyd addressed the group on the key tenets of mental health parity and the need to fully realize the intent of the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Finke then helped facilitate the break out session dedicated to parity. The summit focused on the following areas:
- Standards of care
- Workforce development
- Emergency and crisis response
- Parity
- Early identification and prevention
- Integration
- Equity
More about the summit here.
The Kennedy Forum lent support to New Jersey’s A3334 bill. The bill will help more New Jersey students obtain access to mental health care by bringing more Medicaid dollars to schools. In late 2022, members of the Assembly Human Services Committee successfully voted the bill out of committee. Read our letter to the committee here.
Next week Amy will attend the second National Governor’s Association (NGA) Roundtable gathering for Governor Murphy’s Youth Mental Health initiative. The January gathering is focused on the intiative’s second pillar: Stigma. In February, the group will meet again at the NGA’s annual winter meeting and hone in on the third pillar: Quality and Access. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates from these events.
