OAKLAND, California, (July 20, 2022) – In recognition of July as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Month, Blue Shield of California announced it is providing more than $1.1 million to four organizations working to support the mental health of California’s youth . Mental illness is the number one reason children in the state are hospitalized, and half of all lifetime mental illness cases begin by age 14.
The support is part of Blue Shield of California’s BlueSky Initiative, which provides resources and support to youth, families, educators and caregivers to promote emotional well-being for youth. Launched in 2019, BlueSky works with the California Department of Education and nonprofit and community organizations to improve health and educational outcomes for youth by providing access to culturally diverse and responsive mental health resources. With today’s announcement, BlueSky has now secured $10 million in total to support youth mental health programs across the state.
“Our goal is to support young people by helping them develop the resilience and emotional well-being to face life’s challenges in a healthy way,” said Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California. “That’s why we created BlueSky – to support, invest and work with organizations to bring needed support to our youth across California.”
Below are the four organizations that receive support from BlueSky.
- DoSomething.org is the largest global organization for youth and social change. With support from BlueSky, the group will survey young people to form a new educational campaign to help students build advocacy skills and provide peer mental health resources. The effort follows an earlier collaboration by BlueSky and DoSomething.org to create the new state of mind A guide to young people’s mental health featuring nearly 75,000 tips from teens to help their peers cope with the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Mental Health California’s Brother Be Well Program in Sacramento provides mental health support to black boys and men who are 13 years of age and older. The goals are to reduce disparities in access to mental health services, remove stigma, and improve the mental health and well-being of all program participants. The initiative also includes education for parents and caregivers.
- Youth Power Fund is a funding collaborative based in the San Francisco Bay Area that promotes the role of youth organizing to advance justice and equity. BlueSky’s support will support priority outcomes such as providing mental health, wellbeing and recovery for young people and its supporting staff, elevating young people’s voices and decision-making power and creating safe and welcoming spaces for young people.
- Filmmaker for Change engages youth across California to learn about suicide prevention and mental health, and then educate their peers through creative filmmaking. For the third year in a row, BlueSky will help fund the Directing Change film competition. BlueSky’s support will also help fund Directing Change grants to schools that are building student film programs focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. During the 2021-22 school year, Directing Change received 939 film submissions representing nearly 2,500 youth from 135 schools and community-based organizations.
“The pandemic not only shined a light, but exacerbated a critical epidemic — the alarming decline in the mental health of young people, especially those in black and brown communities,” said DeNora Getachew, CEO of DoSomething.org. “Blue Shield’s generous support will help DoSomething equip its members with the tools and resources they need to destigmatize mental health issues and address this epidemic with action.”
Over the past year, BlueSky and its programs nearly doubled the number of educators it trained to recognize the warning signs of mental health concerns in young people, conducted more than 4,000 counseling sessions and supported the cultivation of a diverse youth group to worked in the field of mental health. The new financial support announced today will continue to increase these supports for mental health with a focus on reducing health inequalities.
“We share a common mission with BlueSky to serve boys and men of color to improve their well-being,” said Kristene Smith, CEO of Brother Be Well. “With Blue Shield’s support, Brother Be Well physicians will be able to expand their reach and normalize conversations around mental health.”
Other organizations receiving support since 2019 include:
For more information about BlueSky, go to https://bluesky.blueshieldca.com/
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a health care system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainable. Blue Shield of California is an independent, nonprofit, taxpaying member of the Blue Shield Association with 4.7 million members, 7,800 employees and $22.9 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its subsidiaries offer health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $192 million to the Blue Shield of California Foundation in the past five years to make an impact in California communities.
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