HHS Launches the Children and Youth Resilience Challenge

May 4, 2023

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the launch of a $1 million Children and Youth Resilience Challenge. The HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge will fund innovative community-led solutions to promote resilience in children and adolescents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters.  

The Resilience Challenge will fund community-led solutions that:

  • Promote resilience and advance mental health and well-being
  • Reduce the risk for negative mental health outcomes among children and youth
  • Promote positive strategies and solutions that help children and youth thrive
  • Identify and elevate promising practices that promote culturally and linguistically responsive protective factors

"To help children and adolescents thrive and live their healthiest lives possible, we have to break down silos,” said Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Rachel L. Levine. “This Resilience Challenge will help find and fund innovative community-led strategies that can support their mental health needs.”

“We know that many look to family and cultural traditions that build resiliency. Communities, including youth themselves, are developing and delivering innovative and creative solutions to promote resilience in children and young adults,” said Assistant Secretary for Children and Families January Contreras. “Our intention is that this investment leads to more community-generated solutions to promote the mental health and well-being of children and youth.”

The Resilience Challenge was developed by the HHS Behavioral Health Coordinating Council Subcommittee on Children and Youth, as part of their work to advance the President’s Unity Agenda and Mental Health Strategy and HHS’ Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration  (PDF).

Children and youth in the United States are experiencing a mental health crisis. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory  (PDF) reports rising rates of psychological distress, including anxiety, depression, and other emotional and behavioral symptoms among children and youth. Among youth ages 12 to 17 who experienced a major depressive episode  (PDF), nearly half perceived that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected their mental health. Emergency department visits for mental health concerns have also increased significantly. These patterns are intensified among children and adolescents exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) . Promoting youth resilience—their ability to adapt in the face of adversity—is critical to avoiding long-term negative mental health outcomes.

The Resilience Challenge will include a proposal phase and a pilot phase for selected finalists. Proposals are due Friday, July 7, 2023. An informational webinar open to the public will be held on May 18, 2023, from 3-4:15 pm ET in English, with Spanish translation available. Please register for the webinar .

For more information about the Challenge and how to submit a proposal, please visit challenge.gov .

Contact

Administration for Children & Families
Office of Communications
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

Phone: (202) 401-9215
Fax: (202) 205-9688
Email: media@acf.hhs.gov

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