Building Systems for Whole-Child Growth
Youth mental health is often approached as a stand-alone issue, until we hear directly from young people, families, and educators who live in those intersections every day.
A recent report by the Get Georgia Reading Cabinet shows that reading proficiency and graduation rates are shaped by whether students are showing up consistently.
Chronic absenteeism is often rooted in unaddressed trauma or mental health challenges.
Public systems, like schools, clinics, and courtrooms, are already in kids’ lives and have the power to respond early.
When these systems are aligned and equipped, they can deliver whole-child supports that change life trajectories.
Investing in youth mental health also strengthens outcomes in education, literacy, child welfare, and beyond. And stronger public systems create better opportunities to get upstream and address the root causes before they derail a young person’s life journey.
Creating space for young people to speak for themselves — not just be spoken about — makes systems more honest, more responsive, and more effective. In addition to the 2025 Youth Wellbeing Innovation Award recipients, other youth-centered organizations working in these intersections include: She Soars, Multi-Agency Alliance for Children (MAAC), Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential (GCAPP), and VOX ATL.
Thank you to the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta for partnering with MHFC to host our recent webinar on youth mental health in Georgia, where we explored some of these intersections. Watch the recording here or view the deck here.
