As youth suicide rates and depression continue to rise, particularly among marginalized groups, urgent action is needed. While much of the current data focuses on the crisis at hand – what can we learn from youth well-being? This panel will confront this question, urging us to reframe our deficit thinking into one that empowers the resiliency of our youth and highlight solutions that are driving meaningful change. Addressing the complexities of youth mental health necessitates a holistic understanding of its social and behavioral drivers. The absence of a comprehensive monitoring system for youth mental health leaves us with inadequate tools to fully understand, address, and advocate for the well-being of our young people. In addition, most of the existing data landscape lacks an equity-forward perspective. Introducing the Youth Mental Health Tracker (YMHT) – a groundbreaking collaboration between Surgo Health, MTV Entertainment Studios, and Pivotal Ventures that bridges the data gaps on both mental health and mental well-being. This initiative is collecting multiple rounds of data from 8,000+ youth in the U.S., leveraging equity-forward sampling strategies. Driven by youth voices and cutting-edge data, the YMHT seeks to provide an unprecedented understanding of the drivers behind youth mental health, challenge the prevailing deficit narrative, and fuel effective solutions to elevate youth well-being. This session will unveil new insights and analysis from the YMHT, interpreted by expert panelists, focused on the causes and solutions for youth mental health. Weaving together rich data and national surveying to better understand lived youth experiences, along with perspectives from an inclusive youth advisory board and a panel of mental health experts, the YMHT generates data-driven recommendations to uplift the strength of our young people and create lasting impact on a national and local scale. Join this powerful conversation as we explore how to leverage youth-centered solutions to elevate youth well-being and drive meaningful change in mental health advocacy. Together, we can rally around our youth as a united front of practitioners, policymakers, educators, and tech leaders, mapping the course to building a brighter future for our young people.

Takeaways:

• Uplift well-being: Gain insights into the limitations of current approaches to solving the youth mental health crisis and learn about a new, youth-driven solution aimed at uplifting and empowering the well-being of our young people.
• Understand Youth Experiences: Hear directly from young people about their needs and desired actions, and explore how to implement systemic change to address those needs, with a focus on amplifying marginalized voices.
• Actionable Recommendations: Glean actionable recommendations from the Youth Mental Health Tracker (YMHT) to shift the conversation from deficit to empowerment, and drive meaningful systemic and programmatic change.
• Map a Clear Path Forward: Discuss the future of youth mental health, embracing a fresh approach that positions youth at the forefront, integrating novel behavioral data and diverse perspectives to holistically address the youth mental health crisis.