A Progress Report from the Grand Challenge to Ensure Healthy Development for All Youth

Behavioral health problems in childhood and adolescence exact a heavy toll over a lifetime, with significant impacts on rates of economic independence, morbidity, and mortality. Scientific evidence from the past 30 years shows that behavioral health problems can be prevented. The Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health is an interdisciplinary group of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers committed to reducing behavioral health problems in young people. It is working to meet the goals of the Grand Challenge of Ensure Healthy Development for All Youth set forth by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. The goals of the grand challenge are: 1) reduce the incidence and prevalence of behavioral health problems in the population of young people from birth to age 24 by 20%; and 2) reduce racial, socioeconomic, and other disparities in behavioral health problems by 20%. These goals were initiated in 2016 and are to be met by 2026. Coalition members will present a recently-approved Strategic Plan and highlight progress in implementing 7 action steps that are aimed at meeting these goals. Progress and impact of the Coalition's work will include a discussion of efforts to reduce racial, socioeconomic, and other disparities in behavioral health problems, increase community and state infrastructure for delivering preventive interventions, scale-up tested and effective family-focused preventive interventions to promote children's behavioral health problems, and prepare the workforce to deliver tested and effective preventive interventions for children and youth. Presenters will convey evidence of progress in each of these strategic initiatives. This evidence includes examples of interventions that have been effective in reducing disparities in behavioral health problems, state infrastructure supports that promote preventive interventions, efforts undertaken by members of the Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health to scale up healthy parenting interventions through involvement in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Collaborative on Healthy Parenting Collaborative in Primary Care, and progress in advancing workforce efforts in social work education that enhance training in prevention practice and policy. Brief presentations by members of the Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health will be followed by input and discussion with session attendees. This session illustrates how grand challenge goals can be measured and evaluated by illustrating ongoing progress in the Grand Challenge of Ensure Healthy Development for all Youth.