On January 16, 2013, President Barack Obama called for a “national conversation to increase understanding about mental health” and directed Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Arne Duncan of the U.S. Department of Education to launch a National Dialogue on Mental Health.
Creating Community Solutions is an important part of the National Dialogue. It will give Americans a chance to learn more about mental health issues – from each other and from research. People who participate in these community conversations will determine if mental health is an important issue for their community and will discuss issues related to the mental health of young people. They also will decide how they might take action to improve mental health in their families, schools, and communities. A number of the community conversations, convened by local mayors, will be supported by leaders from deliberative democracy organizations.
Population of focus: Communities across the United States
Links to resource:
Date: 2013
Organization: AmericaSpeaks’, Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Everyday Democracy, National Issues Forums Institute, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation and National Institute for Civil Discourse