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What affects the mental health of kids?

Life is throwing a lot at young people these days, hitting some harder than others, undermining their mental health. The Kids Count Data book dives deep into factors that can affect their well-being, and identifies what states, cities and schools need to address.

Benjamin Orr, head of the Maryland Center on Economic Policy, talks us through the research.

Then, Clarrissa Taylor Jackson, Director of Programs and Outreach at the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Baltimore, tells why peer education is the superpower behind their work:

“If you are living with a mental health condition and you’re living well, we want to work with you in the ways that make sense, so that we can make it okay for someone else to get where you are. To feel comfortable navigating life with their mental health condition, just like you are.”

Links: Kids Count Data Book full report, NAMI resources, Pathways to Hope NAMI conference, Aug. 26 and 27, 2022.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'