A national coalition of parents, educators, mental health professionals, and physicians united in ensuring the mental health and well-being of our nation’s children and adolescents.

Dear Advocacy Leaders, Colleagues and Friends:

Our national partner work group is extremely pleased to share this State Advocacy Toolkit with you and your organization. We jointly developed this toolkit to help educate state lawmakers about children’s mental health in America. Our work group came together in response to misinformation circulated after release of President Bush’s New Freedom Commission Report on mental health care in America (NFC).

Recently, legislation has been introduced in several states that, in some cases, suggests that mental disorders in children are not real, that attempt to restrict open communication between families and schools about mental health related concerns, and that threaten to interfere with the ability of children with mental disorders to be identified and linked with services. These types of legislation are often promoted by groups that have a long history of attacking mental health care in America.

To help protect the rights of all children with mental health treatment needs and to ensure access to information and appropriate care, our group has developed the following resources in this tool kit for advocacy at the state and local levels:

• Tips on Effective State Legislative Advocacy
• Sample Anti-Mental Health and Anti-Psychiatry State Legislation From Previous Sessions
• Letters to Legislators and Governors Jointly Sent by Our Organizations
• Sample Opinion Letters and Letters to the Editors in Response to Anti-Mental Health Legislation
• Recommendations on Helpful Ways for Educators and Families to Talk about Mental Health Related Concerns
• A Fact Sheet on Improving the Mental Health and Well-Being of Children
• A Fact Sheet on Schools and Families United for the Mental Health and Well-Being of Children

These resources are posted on the web sites of our national organizations for you to download and to share with others in your state and local community. Download the complete State Advocacy Toolkit.

Our organizations are committed to continuing our work to educate state lawmakers, state and local leaders, and the public about the truth about children’s mental health in America. We greatly appreciate the vitally important work that you do in your states and communities to benefit children, adolescents and their families. Please do not hesitate to contact members of our national partner work group with recommendations for additional resources that can be developed to benefit your advocacy work. Thanks for your commitment to children and families.

November 2007