This month, one of Change Matrix’s (CM) projects, The National Training and Technical Assistance Center for the Mental Health of Children, Youth, and Families (NTTAC), held its System of Care Strategy Summit. This two-day event served as a learning space for both NTTAC grantees and children’s mental health advocates to redefine their approach to systems of care (SOC).

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, CM is sharing NTTAC Field Director and CM Founding Partner Elizabeth Waetzig, JD’s opening words for the Summit’s second day.

Day Two Opening Words:

Welcome Everyone and thank you for stepping into this journey with us. My name is Elizabeth Waetzig and I serve as the field director for NTTAC and am a managing partner at Change Matrix. This is the second day up here on the summit and we are stopped at a scenic overlook so that we can take a look at where we have been and look together at where we are headed.

As you know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and during this month, there is special attention paid to Children’s Mental Health.

As we get set for our Summit journey, I want you to take a moment to think about a child or youth, a family member or caregiver, a provider or leader — someone that has motivated you, inspired you, and sustained you. Who are you doing this work for? What do you hope for that person or persons? Keep that with you as a picture tucked in your visor or taped to your dashboard as we journey together over the next day.

We would love to know who is summiting with us today! Please put your name, location, and role in the chat. And as you introduce yourselves to us, I would like to tell you a little about our center. The National Training and Technical Assistance Center for the Mental Health of Children, Youth, and Families is a SAMHSA-funded center dedicated to supporting the implementation of effective system of care across the country. We serve both grantees funded to implement System of Care and all of you out there doing this hard, complex work without federal funding.

This is what motivates us to stay on the journey.

Children and families across our country have experienced enormous adversity and disruption.  Our youth have been particularly impacted as losses from COVID-19 and disruptions in routines and relationships have led to increased social isolation, anxiety, and learning loss. The inequities that result from structural racism have contributed to disproportionate impacts on children from communities of color.

More than half of parents have concerns about their children’s mental well-being.

Rates of childhood mental health concerns and suicide rose steadily between 2010 and 2020, and by 2018 suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24. The pandemic has intensified this crisis: across the country, we have witnessed dramatic increases in emergency department visits for all mental health emergencies.

More than 140,000 children in the United States lost a primary and/or secondary caregiver, with youth of color disproportionately impacted.

We are caring for a generation of young people with soaring rates of grief, isolation, depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality that will have lasting impacts on them, their families, and their communities.

So, let’s get ready to go. We are embarking on this journey together to redefine our approach to System of Care. The children’s mental health field has been on this SOC journey for a while. And like so many trips we take, there have been twists and turns and challenges that we predicted and many that we could not see until they were upon us. We have learned things about the route, the destination, and the people who are on, or should be on the journey, and we have come to realize that this is an iterative or evolutionary journey. We have had to adapt to changing conditions as we moved forward over the years. And it is time to do that again. As we identify the ways in which our environment is changing, we must continue to adapt. And we may find ourselves traveling in directions that we did not intend when we started out.

Here at NTTAC, we are committed to elements that are a foundation of our system-level work to support children, youth, young adults, families, and system partners.

Young people who have experienced trauma are present across health, education, juvenile justice, child welfare and mental health. All of these agencies along with community partners must come together to understand the experience and impact of trauma and implement effective practices and policies to support those young people.

We also know that our workforce is fatigued, stretched, and stressed. We are committed to supporting the field to understand and support the workforce in our current context. We are also committed to supporting new professionals to enter and grow in these professions. Particularly those from groups that are underrepresented and much needed in the workforce.

And it is time that we make meaningful progress to ensure that the services and supports are accessible to everyone in ways that work best for them so that they can experience success as they define it. In other words, we are committed to equity and justice in services and within the larger system.

Our work requires a shared vision as we recognize that we cannot do this without partnering across child-serving systems like health, education, child welfare, and juvenile justice. And we must include community-based, grassroots partners. Please take a moment to offer a word or phrase that represents your shared vision for the mental well-being of children, youth, and families in your community.

While we should feel good about many aspects of our journey, like the more visible role of families and youth in our systems change work, we also need to recognize where we have fallen short. Like many government efforts designed to benefit the whole population, SOC has been unavailable to some communities. The result of this is ongoing disparities in access, appropriate services, and outcomes in communities of color. In alignment with our NTTAC focus on equity, we must all continue on our journey, and prioritize anti-racist efforts to dismantle historic and current systemic racism.

The public health approach also offers us a new direction. To meet the current state of emergency in mental health now and in the long term, we must consider how we provide appropriate treatment to those who need it and how we identify opportunities to prevent mental health challenges from progressing. Prevention takes place in all environments where children youth and young adults live, play, and learn. I can’t think of a better reason to have a system of care.

Federal leaders, technical assistance providers, and all of those doing the hard work of SOC implementation across states, and in communities, tribes, and territories must partner in this journey. I think of the federal government as the national highway system. They are not dictating a route or a destination but providing a comprehensive network of roads, highways, and interstates that we can use to travel. TA (technical assistance) folks are your navigation. What used to be AAA is now Google maps. TA consultants also do not dictate the destination but can offer consultation on route options, time, and how to identify or avoid potential obstacles. Implementation partners, funded grantees, and others get to decide who is the car, when you stop for a break, what snacks are provided, and, sometimes, when or how you must deviate from the planned route.

Today we are at a summit along our collective journey. This is an opportunity to get out of day-to-day, task-oriented work and look around. What do you see from your summit approach? What are you proud of and what do you want to build on? What gaps need to be filled and what needs to change? Who needs to be on this journey with you in your community and who are your fellow travelers? What experiences and achievements might we celebrate?

Thank you again for being here. Thank you to the NTTAC team for the journey you have already been on for months to put this together.