A New Conference Series: Improving Black Youth Mental Health

fizkes/AdobeStock CLINICAL CONVERSATIONS The inaugural Black Youth Mental Health Clinical Case Conference Series at Yale Child Study Center, a 6-session event in 2024, provides a space for expert-led conversations that focus on improving mental health care for Black youth and their families. This conference series is created and directed by Amanda J. Calhoun, MD, MPH, chief resident and child psychiatry fellow at Yale Child Study Center/Yale School of Medicine. Psychiatric Times sat down with Dr Calhoun to discuss the Black youth crisis and the need for dynamic conversations on this subject. PT: Let’s talk about the youth mental health crisis, specifically for Black youth. What are some of the more pressing psychiatric issues? Calhoun: We are indeed in the midst of a youth mental health crisis, but it is important to acknowledge that Black youth have been in crisis for over 20 years and are not showing signs of improvement. One aspect of mental health that has been highlighted in the recent Johns Hopkins report on suicide prevention, a follow-up to the groundbreaking Congressional Black Caucus report, are Black youth suicide rates, which are rising faster than those of any other racial/ethnic group.1,2 Black children as young as 5 years...