To advocate meaningfully for children, we must first acknowledge the nesting structures within which they reside.
We use a framework of home, school, and community to ensure that we are not missing or creating any gaps in the health continuum for children. Supporting and investing in children’s behavioral health enables children to stay at home, in school and in their communities.
Home: ensuring children and families are able to receive high-quality behavioral health care without delay so they can remain at home or return quickly.
School: strengthening behavioral health supports in school and removing barriers that prevent children with behavioral health challenges from reaching their full potential.
Community: strengthening the entire communities’ capacity to support children by improving the behavioral healthcare system.
We use this framework to inform our work. Our mission is to drive reform that would allow children to get the appropriate, effective, and high-quality resources and support they need in order to stay at home and at school, or return quickly. Our vision holds for a Commonwealth where communities have capacity to support children and let them thrive. Our values of health equity intentionally include youth and family voice.
Our work in advocacy reflects this comprehensive approach. Learn more below:
Legislative: seeks laws to better protect children’s behavioral health care and services
Budget: aims to protect funding for services vital to children’s behavioral health care
Regulatory/Administrative: seeks to improve regulations and agency policies that impact children’s behavioral health services