Funding Youth Mental Health: Solutions to Moving the Field Forward
The data is clear: now is the time for philanthropy to invest in youth mental health. But in this complex and uncertain landscape, many funders are struggling to find the way forward.
Mindful Philanthropy set out to change that. Our latest report, Funding Our Future: Solutions for Youth Mental Health Philanthropy, explores barriers and key solutions to philanthropic investment in youth mental health. Developed with support from the Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children’s Mental Health, this resource features survey and interview data from a national sample of diverse funders whose perspectives informed the five solutions we identified to move the field forward.
On March 30th, Mindful Philanthropy also hosted Funding Our Future: Philanthropy in Youth Well-Being, a day-long funder event at Morgan Stanley’s headquarters in New York City, to unpack the findings and activate funders toward impact. The event featured panel sessions, intimate conversations, and collaborative workshop times to explore the latest research, lessons learned from fellow funders, and ideas for advancing the field collaboratively.
In this blog, we highlight key solutions and insights from both the event and report to help funders break through barriers to investing and amplify their impact for our nation’s young people. As with many issues, philanthropy has a unique and urgent role to play in catalyzing change, convening stakeholders, filling critical gaps in public funding, and seeding innovation. To dive deeper into the report findings and solutions, download Funding Our Future: Solutions for Youth Mental Health Philanthropy here. Read Part 2 in this blog series here.
Challenges and Opportunities in Funding Youth Mental Health
The data show that funders recognize the need to fund youth mental health, but many are struggling with how and where to start. Nearly all survey respondents – 97 percent – agreed that the youth mental health crisis is “an urgent social issue.” Yet, in interviews, funders felt “paralyzed” by the complexity of issues and proposed solutions.
To overcome these barriers to funding youth mental health and navigate the complex and fragmented ecosystem, Mindful Philanthropy identified five key solutions below. We believe the field can move forward with these strategic, collaborative, and measurable efforts.
Executive Director Alyson Niemann speaks with Cynthia Germanotta and Livia C of the Born This Way Foundation at Funding Our Future: Philanthropy in Youth Well-Being on March 30, 2023.
Youth mental health needs more focused investment. Supporting youth well-being broadly will not meaningfully address the challenges youth face with mental health. Targeted, funding towards effective prevention and early intervention is critical.
Last week’s event featured a conversation with Cynthia Germanotta and Livia C of Born This Way Foundation that highlighted Cynthia’s story as a mother and funder, as well as Livia’s perspective on the mental health challenges her generation faces. Cynthia shared that the Born This Way Foundation focuses on research backed prevention with their intentional partnership program. She also shared that sustainable change requires patience, but it’s well worth it. “We know there is a connection between kindness and mental health,” said Cynthia. “If we can build a generation that understands that, it changes their mental health trajectory.”
Mental health-specific metrics matter. The mental health field has not identified or mobilized behind a common set of goals and measures to galvanize progress on youth mental health. This is a critical gap in the field. Philanthropy needs to align around a common set of goals and corresponding metrics, explicitly related to mental health across sectors, to achieve impact.
For example, clinicians and researchers Dr. Sidney Hankerson from Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and Dr. Harold Koplewicz of Child Mind Institute shared their insights on philanthropy’s role in funding research and evaluation. “Philanthropy has more flexibility to look at other outcomes that are important, in addition to clinical measures,” said Dr. Hankerson.
Strategic funding can unlock greater impact. Philanthropy, as a practice, is uniquely positioned to take risks and test innovations, creating on-ramps for impactful services and programs that can ultimately operate sustainably beyond an initial injection of philanthropic capital. Strategic funding can catalyze other sources of funding and achieve scale for programs that work.
Rick Kellar of Peg’s Foundation urged the audience to “think bigger” when it comes to the role of philanthropy and creating systems change. Even smaller amounts of capital can be leveraged for outsized impact.
Collaboration is critical for success. Over 50% of surveyed funders indicate that they would increase their funding for youth well-being if they could collaborate with other funders or non-profits. While there’s complexity in collaboration, it can provide systems of support and lower the risk of entering a new funding space.
In the day’s opening conversation on overcoming barriers to funding, Jeanne Esler of the Esler Family Foundation reflected on the convening power of philanthropy. “Keep an eye out for the joy that can come with connecting good people,” shared Jeanne. “So often there can be shared learnings and collaborative efforts; we don’t have to be in siloes.”
Funders must balance quick wins and long-term goals. Systemic challenges like youth mental health may take decades to shift. A sole focus on reducing current suffering or addressing systems change misses key needs and opportunities to test and improve approaches in the short-term – and ensuring systemic progress in the long run. Funders should look for creative opportunities to address both short and long-term goals simultaneously through a blended approach.
Ben Nemser of the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation emphasized the need for measured risk and learning through failure. “We’re not going to achieve everything we set out to do,” he said. “But we’re going to learn along the way.” And as Amy Kennedy with the Kennedy Forum put it, taking the long-term view can pay off, even when there are bumps along the way. “It’s worth investing. People are living in recovery. It works!”
For full details on each of the five solutions, download Funding Our Future: Solutions for Youth Mental Health Philanthropy here.
