May is Mental Health Awareness Month! To commemorate the month and continue ongoing discussions of the mental health crises facing youth today, WCA is releasing a new Ground Truthing podcast episode. This time, it's an episode from our podcast archives, featuring a conversation with Dr. Adam Weissman of the Weissman Children's Foundation, and the Child & Family Institute. Give this episode a listen to hear about mental health data from the past few years, and mental health programs currently operating in Westchester County. Special thanks to Paula Santa-Donato for lending her voice and expertise as this episode's narrator. Thanks also to Damian Travier, Executive Director, of the Access Psychology Foundation, and Dr. Adam Weissman, for their contributions to WCA's mental health initiatives, including the annual Mental Health Round Table. Edited by Ryan Arecco, Development & Operations Associate at WCA.

Why are there mentions of Star Trek, the TV show “Killing Eve”, and ice skating in a WCA Ground Truthing episode about mental health in the Asian community?   Join us for a powerful conversation  with Dr. Teresa Hsu, Founder and Executive Director of SPEAK (a Supportive Place for Empowering Asian Americans and Kin), County Legislator David Imamura, County Legislator Jewel Williams Johnson, WCA Board President Ann Umemoto and podcast host Limarie Cabrera, WCA Director of Data, Operations & Finance. Listen in as we discuss mental health, the corrosive effects of racism, and the unexpected connections that shape our experiences. DATA CITED Self-Reported Data on Children with Mental Health Issues https://www.childhealthdata.org/browse/survey/results?q=10526&r=34&g=1114 Psychological distress statistics for Asian-Americans https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/mental-and-behavioral-health-asian-americans James Huynh’s work on the mental health of Asian American Adolescents https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.958517/full RESOURCES MENTIONED: Connect to Speak: https://connecttospeak.org/ Westchester County Asian American Advisory Board: https://asianamerican.westchestergov.com/asian-american-advisory-board School-Based Mental Health Services in Westchester: https://mentalhealth.westchestergov.com/school-based-mental-health-services The Asian American Teen’s Mental Health Workbook (To be released Fall 2025) https://www.amazon.com/Asian-American-Mental-Health-Workbook/dp/1648485693 POP REFERENCES: Radiolab podcast “On the Edge”: https://radiolab.org/podcast/edge-2305 Interview with Sandra Oh, star of “Killing Eve” (paywall link): https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/sandra-oh-on-killing-eve-and-her-emmy-nomination.html A very long description of The Borg from Star Trek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg

Debora Barrios, a housing consultant at the Community Resource Center in Mamaroneck, speaks about her experience as a volunteer in WCA’s Court Watchers Program. Launched this summer, Court Watchers trains volunteers before sending them out to view landlord-tenant eviction courts in Westchester, and document their observations. The Court Watchers Program contributes to WCA’s continued advocacy efforts for child and family homelessness. WCA would like to thank all our Court Watchers, including our guest Debora Barrios, for their continued enthusiasm and dedication to the program.

Jasmine Cabrera and Ja'Quan Wallace from the Youth Shelter of Westchester speak about their experiences with discipline, alternative programs, and community advocacy alongside four NYS youth justice bills: Solutions Not Suspensions, Youth Justice and Opportunities Act, Right to Remain Silent, and Clean Slate. They speak with Westchester Children’s Association intern Gabby Nanna, promoting WCA and YSOW’s upcoming Youth Justice Rally on February 23, 2023.

Michael Randall of the Fellowship between Bronxville High School, Mount Vernon High School, Yonkers Public Schools, and Sarah Lawrence College invited our executive director, Allison Lake, along with teachers from Mount Vernon and Yonkers to participate in a series of interviews about their investigation into the school-to-prison pipeline along with teachers from Mount Vernon and Yonkers. They graciously shared their podcast with us to send to you. Listen in to the "Separate and unequal" podcast featuring Allison!

Westchester Youth Speakers, Sandra Aderemi and Diego Rivera, speak about how they are active in their communities and striving for change for themselves and others during latest episode of Ground Truthing, a podcast by Westchester Children's Association. They speak about the importance of registering to vote, voting, and encouraging others to do the same. Listen in and subscribe to Ground Truthing for more! www.wca4kids.org/wca-podcast

Part 2 of our latest episode is full of important insight from our two guests, Dr. Lilian Reynolds and Karl Bertrand, child homelessness and race in Westchester County, New York. In part 1 of this episode, both of our guests discuss how data guides their homelessness work, why varying definitions lead to an inaccurate count of the homeless population, and how the history of race and racism impacts homelessness today. Dr. Lillian F. Reynolds is a social worker and homelessness liaison for the Mount Vernon City School District who is tasked with identifying and supporting students in temporary housing according to the McKinney-Vento Act. Karl Bertrand is the founder and President of Program Design & Development, LLC, (PD&D) which specializes in helping public and private organizations develop effective and innovative programs, with particular expertise in the development and management of multi-agency collaborations.

WCA Podcast Season 3 Episode 2 - 'Ground Truthing' interview of Dr. Lilian Reynolds and Karl Bertrand regarding child homelessness and race in Westchester County, New York. Hosted by Erica Ayala In part 1 of this episode, both of our guests discuss how data guides their homelessness work, why varying definitions lead to an inaccurate count of the homeless population, and how the history of race and racism impacts homelessness today. Dr. Lillian F. Reynolds is a social worker and homelessness liaison for the Mount Vernon City School District who is tasked with identifying and supporting students in temporary housing according to the McKinney-Vento Act. Karl Bertrand is the founder and President of Program Design & Development, LLC, (PD&D) which specializes in helping public and private organizations develop effective and innovative programs, with particular expertise in the development and management of multi-agency collaborations. Learn more about the gaps and issues affecting homeless children in our county through our 2019 Data Bulletin and report "Making the Invisible Visible" at www.wca4kids.org

Interview with WCA's Advocacy Breakfast keynote speaker, Marc Dones, for our 1st episode of Season 3 for 'Ground Truthing'. Dones is the Executive Director of National Innovation Services that specializes in tackling complex problems and holding organizations and groups to bold solutions and outcomes. [Marc Dones' pronouns: They, Them, Theirs] Host: Erica L. Ayala

Welcome to Season Two of Ground Truthing, Westchester Children’s Association's monthly podcast where we offer policy insights from the ground up by featuring community voices from Westchester county. Hosted by Erica Ayala. This episode, we chat with Karen Blumenthal. Karen will soon retire after 25 years working as a policy advocate at Student Advocacy. Karen has been at the forefront of the code of conduct conversations happening throughout the county. We break down the history of codes of conduct, districts diligently working to make less punitive school environments, and what still needs to change at the state level. Karen also discusses the Cornell Blumenthal Internship, which she and her husband David created to promote paid internship opportunities in Westchester. Finally, Karen breaks down the status of the Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Solutions Not Suspensions and what we can do to support more positive and less punitive learning environments for all students. You can find all our ground truthing episodes at wca4kids.org or on our Data Hub at www.gps4kids.org Follow Us @wca4kids Find more episodes by searching #WCAPodcast Ground Truthing is a Westchester Children's Association production. The show is edited by Eloise Sherrid. Original music is composed by Al Saniuk.

Nicholas Kristof has been a columnist for The New York Times since 2001. Over his career, Kristof has won two Pulitzer Prizes, along with many humanitarian awards. This year, he will receive the Edith C. Macy Award for Distinguished Service at the Westchester Children’s association Spring Benefit. Ahead of our May 21st event honoring Kristof, he sat down with WCA executive director Allison Lake and Project Manager Erica Ayala to chat about his work, various policy issues impacting Westchester County’s children, and the relationship between advocacy and journalism. We discovered we both are in the business of changing minds. Kristof and Lake discuss our societal default to rally behind one spectacular story, while ignoring the decaying infrastructures that create child homelessness and other social and economic issues. The conversation begins and ends with the subheading of a recent Kristof op-ed Overcoming life’s basic truth: Talent is universal, but opportunity is not.