Children Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI)
About the LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health Campaign
Part of California’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI)
CYBHI focus on promoting social and emotional well-being, preventing behavioral health challenges, and providing equitable, appropriate, timely, and accessible services for emerging and existing behavioral health needs for children and youth ages 0-25. LGBTQ+ youth are among the most impacted and least served of youth experiencing mental, emotional, and behavioral health challenges. Recent data show that LGBTQ+ youth are twice as likely to experience persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness compared to their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts and the situation is even more dire for transgender youth with 93% reporting being worried about getting denied access to gender-affirming medical care. For the nearly 1.2M LGBTQ+ youth living in California, the need to address this alarming and growing mental health crisis is urgent. For this reason, CDPH Office of Health Equity is committed to developing a tailored LGBTQ+ effort to support California’s youth with the goal of launching by PRIDE season (June) of 2025.
The goal of this targeted effort is to address the unique stigma faced by LGBTQ+ youth while also raising behavioral health literacy and increasing help-seeking behaviors to improve mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth. While all youth experiencing mental, emotional, or behavioral challenges encounter some form of stigma, the experience of LGBTQ+ youth is distinct. They face compounded stigma related to their LGBTQ+ identity, including homophobia, transphobia, fear of rejection and judgment, bullying, family rejection, isolation, barriers to accessing support, and other forms of societal or community discrimination. These stigmas experienced as part of their gender or sexual identity not only often predate other types of mental health stigma but also exacerbate and contribute to the mental health challenges of LGBTQ+ youth. Thus, addressing mental health stigma for LGBTQ+ teens cannot be effectively achieved without first tackling the specific stigma related to their LGBTQ+ identity.
About the LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health Campaign Advisory Panel Campaign
Purpose
The LGBTQ+ Advisory will help guide the development and implementation of CDPH Office of Health Equity’s LGBTQ+ youth mental health campaign being developed by Change Craft and co-created in partnership with LGBTQ+ youth. The advisory will ensure the campaign is informed by diverse perspectives, particularly from those with lived experiences and professional expertise working with LGBTQ+ youth in trauma-informed, healing-centered, and equity-minded approaches to co-creation with community.
The Advisory Panel will
- Provide insights and recommendations to enhance campaign strategies.
- Assist in the development of culturally competent and impactful materials.
- Support the evaluation of campaign effectiveness and suggest improvements.
Qualifications
We are seeking individuals who meet the following criteria:
- Experience working with LGBTQ+ youth or developing related campaigns, resources, or interventions.
- Professional background in fields such as public health, mental health, social services, academia, media, or community-based organizations.
- Demonstrated commitment to advocating for LGBTQ+ health and wellness.
- Ability to provide strategic insights and constructive feedback.
- Lived experience with LGBTQ+ communities and/or mental health support.
Expectations of Participation
- Virtual attendance at a quarterly meeting (approx. 1.5 to 2 hours).
- Contribute to ongoing discussions with open, honest, and respectful input.
- Participation in other optional meetings, surveys and dialogue as available.
What’s In It For You
- Opportunity to influence development of an important LGBTQ+ initiative.
- Add experience to your resume working with a highly visible CA campaign.
- Networking opportunities with other LGBTQ+ national/statewide leaders.
- Participants are compensated for their time and service.
- Invitation to join campaign launch event (travel not covered).
As a nationally and globally renowned leader in LGBTQ+ health, Dr. Scout builds bridges between policy and action, with a particular focus on equity and inclusion for under-represented communities. He accomplishes this through programmatic design, identifying and promulgating best practices, trainings, research, and evaluation. Dr. Scout has extensive experience advising government organizations in public education and communication efforts designed to improve health outcomes for LGBTQ+ populations.
For any questions regarding the LGBTQ+ Advisory Panel or the application process, please contact:
Stacey Reardon | Senior Director of Strategy, Change Craft – stacey@thechangecraft.com | (916) 502-3799