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Family support can make a significant difference for Black trans youth as they face mounting stress and discrimination, according to a new report from the Trevor Project. Even if parents are unsure of where to start, or how to talk to their kids about gender identity, longtime advocates and mental health providers suggest that simple ways to show acceptance can have a profound impact.

The Trevor Project report provides a crucial look into the experiences of Black transgender and nonbinary youth at a time when the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth as a whole continues to deteriorate and Black students in particular lack adequate mental health support in schools. State bills targeting trans youth proliferating across the country are further negatively affecting the mental health of trans youth, especially in states where they become law.

The analysis highlights the differences in experiences between Black cisgender queer youth, compared to Black transgender and nonbinary youth. Black trans youth are facing greater discrimination — plus grappling with more anxiety and depression — than cis Black queer youth, according to data collected by the Trevor Project as part of its annual national survey.

Research shows over and over again that trans youth have higher rates of mental health distress and suicidality than queer cisgender youth — which is probably shared across most racial groups, said Bianca D.M. Wilson, senior scholar of public policy at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

However, Wilson said that the Trevor Project’s analysis is a significant reminder that Black youth — particularly trans and queer Black youth — are experiencing psychological distress, and adults need to pay attention.

Read more at 19thNews.org.

Native Americans experienced the highest increase of suicide deaths in the nation from 2020-2021, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the new report, after a two-year decline, suicide deaths in the United States increased overall by 4.79% between 2020-2021. Between 2018 and 2021, increases in age-adjusted suicide rates were highest among Native Americans at 26 percent, followed Black Americans (19.2%) and Hispanics (6.8%). The report considered age, race and ethnicity-related trends between 2018 and 2021.

Per prior Native News Online reporting, Native Americans experience higher rates of suicide compared to all other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Suicide is the 8th-leading cause of death for American Indians and Alaska Natives across all ages. The suicide rate for Native youth is 2.5 times higher than the overall national average, making these rates the highest across all ethnic and racial groups.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the nation’s largest suicide prevention organization, commented on the new report.

“With the data showing increases in suicide rates amongst Native American, Black, and Hispanic people, we see how structural racism and social and health inequities – among other factors – may be negatively impacting the mental health and suicide risk of historically marginalized communities,” AFSP said in a statement. “With the data showing increases in suicide rates amongst Native American, Black, and Hispanic people, we see how structural racism and social and health inequities – among other factors – may be negatively impacting the mental health and suicide risk of historically marginalized communities.”

Read more at NativeNewsOnline.net.

Ensuring robust access to mental health care has been a bipartisan priority for almost 15 years, since the 2008 enactment of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), a landmark law that called for mental health care benefits covered by health plans to be provided at the same level as physical health care benefits, and which was strengthened on a bipartisan basis in 2020. Yet today, too many Americans still struggle to find and afford the care they need. Of the 21% of adults who had any mental illness in 2020, less than half received mental health care; fewer than one in ten with a substance use disorder received treatment. Research shows that people with private health coverage have a hard time finding a mental health provider in their health plan’s network, like these two mothers in California. They struggled to find a therapist to help their children, calling multiple therapists in their plans’ networks, only to find that these providers weren’t accepting new patients or had months long waiting lists.

Despite the repeated bipartisan efforts aimed at mental health parity, insurers too often make it difficult to access mental health treatment, causing millions of consumers to seek care out-of-network at significantly higher costs and pay out of pocket, or defer care altogether. One study shows that insured people are well more than twice as likely to be forced to go out-of-network and pay higher fees for mental health care than for physical health care. And the problem is getting worse: in recent years, the gap between usage of out-of-network care for mental health and substance use disorder benefits versus physical health benefits increased 85 percent. As a result, millions of people are paying for out of network care for mental health services they need, like this family in Michigan who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat their son’s depression and anxiety because the specialized care he needed wasn’t close to home and this mother in Rhode Island who had to submit additional paperwork to get care for her daughter when her private insurance company initially denied her treatment.

President Biden believes mental health is health. As part of his Unity Agenda, he released a comprehensive national strategy to transform how mental health is understood, accessed, treated, and integrated in and out of health care settings. That’s why, today, the President is announcing new actions that would improve and strengthen mental health parity requirements and ensure that more than 150 million Americans with private health insurance can better access mental health benefits under their insurance plan. Today’s proposed rule reinforces MHPAEA’s fundamental goal of ensuring that families have the same access to mental health and substance use benefits as they do physical health benefits. And it would make it easier to get in-network mental health care and eliminate barriers to access that keep people from getting the care they need, when they need it.

Read more at WhiteHouse.gov.

In the aftermath of COVID-19, many people are in need of mental health care, and the Jonesboro, AR Hispanic Center’s “Salud Mental para Todos” or “Mental Health for All” program seeks to offer help to the Hispanic community.

“In our country, it isn’t always easy to ask for mental help,” Gomez said, noting that help can be especially hard for some Hispanic people to get due to fear of social stigma or because they simply can’t afford it. “After COVID, there were a lot of people who needed mental health and a lot without insurance.”

Gomez said that Hispanic Center Interpreter and Community Health Navigator Gaby Suarez has done a wonderful job of letting people know about the program. Suarez said on Friday that it has taken some time for word to spread, but they are finally starting to get calls asking about the program.

“We have started receiving a lot of referrals from families and friends,” she said.

She said there are three therapists, who are from Hispanic countries as well, which lets people connect with them better because they have similar situations in their lives. Gomez added they can also refer bilingual individuals to local therapists if needed.

Suarez said that people have told her how the sessions have benefited them and of the positive impact that it has made on their lives.

Read more at JonesboroSun.com.

The Black Emotional & Mental Health Collective — known as BEAM — has launched a new public art campaign in New York City called “Dear Black Folks.” Celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month, the campaign utilizes affirmations tailored to speak to the Black experience.

On each of the “Dear Black Folks” affirmation billboards, there are QR codes alongside the affirmation that brings readers to a directory of resources such as mental health services, events, and wellness tools. It is the hope that these resources will be of aid to those beginning mental health journeys or that they may help encourage healthier regimens.

What is most impactful about this campaign is that it not only has the goal to uplift those within the community, but can encourage and dismantle the stigma surrounding broader conversations about mental health in everyday life.

“We know that public art can help save lives. We also know that public spaces are spaces where Black bodies and lives are so consistently undervalued and denigrated. We wanted to disrupt that energy by sharing loving affirmations for our folks that shift narratives on our worth, our power, and the narratives pushed upon us,” shared Yolo Akili Robinson, Executive Director and Founder of BEAM. He continued, “Mental health is not just about the individual; our collective mental health is impacted by the cultural narratives about who we should love and how we should be loved. This campaign was designed to counter those messages by centering love for all of our folks, regardless of our ability, gender identity, or productivity. They are messages rooted in healing justice.”

Read more at Ebony.com.

In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. InTouch Outreach Resource Center has been selected as the Partner of the Month for September in recognition of National Recovery Month.

InTouch Outreach Resource Center is committed to helping people to help themselves. They offer Peer Recovery supportive services to individuals and families in need, believing that building up people first is what matters the most for those seeking recovery.

Some of the programs and services that are currently offered:

• Coaching
• Community and Family Support
• Spiritual Awareness and Mental Illness Support
• Employment Assistance

Learn more about InTouch Outreach Resource Center and its mission to connect individuals and families in need to people who care, providing specially designed services at the right moment.

View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.