In honor of National Childrens Mental Health Awareness Day, Goldie Hawn, child advocate and founder of The Hawn Foundation, campaigned for effective childrens mental health programs at a Congressional briefing today.

“Children represent a fraction of our population, but 100% of our future. One in ten suffers from serious mental health disorders, and most arent getting the help they need. We need to address this crisis before its too late,” Hawn said.

Working with leading neuroscientists, educators, and researchers, The Hawn Foundation developed a program for grades K7 that improves childrens emotional and cognitive skills to help them understand and manage their own emotions, moods and behaviors; reduce stress and anxiety; sharpen concentration; increase empathy; and improve their performance in school.

“Increasing social and emotional learning skills is costeffective and makes a big impact,” Hawn said. “Congress should increase funding to scale up programs like these to save our childrens lives, save our schools, and save our nations money, too.”

The briefing focused on investment in the educational future of children with mental health needs, a population that has the highest dropout and failure rates and the lowest academic achievement of any disability group. The briefing was jointly hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health America, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and the National Federation of Families for Childrens Mental Health (National Federation).

Howard Muscott, director of the New Hampshire Center for Effective Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and Kathryn Power, director of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), presented positive outcomes data from CMHS grant sites across the country. The data shows that effective childrens mental health programs promote positive youth development, recovery, and increased resiliency, allowing children with mental health needs to thrive in their communities.