Rhode Island KIDS COUNT will release its newest publication, School-Based Mental Health Services in Newport: Perspectives from Newport Youth, Parents, and the Community on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, from 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Innovate Newport.
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT is a statewide children’s policy organization that works to improve the health, economic well-being, safety, education, and development of Rhode Island children with a core focus on equity.
Featured speakers will include Paige Clausius-Parks, Executive Director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT and Marykate Bergen, Program Officer at van Beuren Charitable Foundation.Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Senior Policy Analyst Jessica Vega will share findings from the Policy Brief. Vega is also the author of the publication. Reflections will be shared from Newport youth, parents, and the community.
According to Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, this publication was written in collaboration with the Newport community, through thoughtful focus groups and one-on-one conversations. “We contacted trusted community-based organizations with strong ties to the community to help recruit parents and youth for participation. The purpose of these conversations was to gather input from students and parents about the resources needed to support and enhance their families’ and communities’ mental health and well-being, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT says in a press release. “These students and parents were selected to highlight the needs of the growing population of Youth and Families of Color in the district. Community-based organization leaders, staff, and school administrators were also interviewed. Please see pages 4-6 of the publication for quotes from these sessions.
Jessica Vega, Senior Policy Analyst at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT and author of this report, thanked Conexión Latina Newport and the Boys & Girls Club of Newport for helping connect with youth and parents who could inform this report. She said, “Youth and parents really appreciated the opportunity to share their experiences. They understood that meeting the mental health needs of students will require cooperation among youth, parents, schools, and community agencies and shared concrete ideas about how to improve school- and community-based mental health services.”
What’sUpNewp will have more information and reporting on the new publication following the event.