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                              HHS Announces $350,000 for Innovative, Community-Led Solutions
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HHS Announces $350,000 for Innovative, Community-Led Solutions to Promote Resilience in Children and Youth








  
  
    

  
      **August 28, 2023**
                |
        By:  Lauren    Behsudi, Senior Advisor, Administration for Children and Families, Elizabeth    Laferriere, Senior Advisor for Innovation, Office of Population Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and Alayna    Schreier, Early Childhood Team Lead, Office of Human Services Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

  
**Summary:**
  





14 Finalists Selected for Their Community-Led Solutions to Promote Resilience in Children and Adolescents


      The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $350,000, in Phase I prizes of $25,000 each to 14 finalists for their community-led solutions to promote resilience in children and adolescents under the HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge.

The Resilience Challenge is funding community-led solutions that:

Promote resilience and advance mental health and well-being among children and youth
	Reduce the risk for negative mental health outcomes among children and youth
	Promote positive strategies and solutions that help children and youth thrive
	Identify and elevate promising practices that promote culturally and linguistically responsive protective factorsChildren and youth in the United States are experiencing a profound mental health crisis.  Among youth ages 12 to 17 who experienced a major depressive episode, nearly half perceived that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected their mental health. Emergency department visits for children’s mental health concerns have also increased significantly. These patterns are intensified among children and adolescents exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

“Promoting the ability of our children and youth to adapt in the face of adversity is critical to avoiding long-term negative mental health outcomes and to improving the well-being of individuals and their communities. Our approach must be inclusive, comprehensive, and community-led,” said HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm. “That is the approach we have taken with the HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration. And thanks to President Biden, we are finally and seriously saying to Americans struggling with their mental health: We hear you. Support is here.”

This past May, HHS announced the launch of a $1 million Children and Youth Resilience Challenge as part of the President’s Unity Agenda and Mental Health Strategy. The Challenge is also an initiative of the HHS Behavioral Health Coordinating Council Subcommittee on Children and Youth and included as part of the HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration.

A challenge (also referred to as a “prize competition”) is a way for federal agencies to crowdsource and engage the public directly to find creative ideas or solutions to important problems. This first-ever Children and Youth Resilience Challenge is funding innovative community-led solutions to promote resilience in children and adolescents, birth to age 24, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters. HHS strongly encouraged proposals from community-based organizations serving children, youth-led organizations, and teams that partner with community-based and youth-led organizations.

This July, HHS received more than 500 submissions outlining diverse, culturally relevant, and community-grounded ideas for how to promote resilience among children and youth. This extraordinary response was one of the largest in Challenge.gov’s history.

“The overwhelming interest in this Challenge from across the nation underlines both the urgency of addressing children and youth mental health following the pandemic and also the inspiring wealth of creativity and innovation in our communities.” said Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel L. Levine, M.D. “Communities truly are the ultimate problem solvers, and we look forward to partnering with and learning from these 14 innovators over the next eight months.”

The 14 Phase I Finalists will have access to intensive technical assistance and a community of learning to support implementation of their solutions in Phase II between September 2023 and May 2024. At the end of Phase II, Finalists may compete for the final prize. One grand prize winner will receive $300,000 and up to two runners-up will receive $175,000 each.

**Children and Youth Resilience Challenge Phase I Finalists**

Location
			Project Name
			Affiliation
			Age RangePA
			ACEs Screening at Well-Child Visits to Build Risk-Level Tailored Clinic to Community Response (ALLIANCE)
			Geisinger
			Early ChildhoodDC
			A Two Generation Approach to Building Children and Youth Resilience
			Briya Public Charter School
			Early ChildhoodKY
			Building Resilience in Louisville Youth
			Kentucky Youth Advocates, Inc.
			School-AgedMI
			Cody Calm Center
			Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance CDC
			Adolescent, Young AdultCA
			FostrSpace: Peer-Led, Digital Health Resilience Building for Foster Youth
			University of California, San Francisco
			Adolescent, Young AdultNE
			Hope Champions Network
			Project Harmony
			School-Aged, AdolescentCA
			Nate’s Place, A Wellness and Recovery Center
			Nate’s Place, A Wellness and Recovery Center
			Adolescent, Young AdultAR
			Project Mindful Matters
			Boys & Girls Club of Benton County
			School-Aged, AdolescentNM
			Project Radical Hope: Mental/Behavioral Health Supports for Indigenous Youth
			National Indian Youth Leadership Project
			AdolescentLA
			ReACTion: Exploring the Healing Power of Creative Spaces
			Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies
			Adolescent, Young-AdultPA
			Students Run Philly Style’s MileUp Program: Building Resilience Through Sport, Mentorship, & Systems-Based Change
			Students Run Philly Style
			Adolescent, Young AdultNational
			Trans Mentor Project
			Sam & Devorah Foundation for Transgender Youth
			Adolescent, Young AdultTX
			Travis County Transformation Project
			Amala Foundation
			Adolescent, Young AdultCA
			Youth Health Ambassadors: Empowering Fresno County Youth to Overcome Barriers and Thrive
			Fresno Community Health Improvement Project
			AdolescentFor more information about this Challenge, please visit www.challenge.gov/?challenge=resilience.
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