A Virtual Town Hall on Policing and Mental Health in PA Schools

UPDATE: This will be a joint town hall featuring: Girl Gov, 1Hood,Black Young and Educated, Gwen's Girls, and The Education Law Center. We look forward to seeing you this Thursday, via Zoom. Please share widely.

This virtual town hall allows teenagers and young adults to learn more about policing and the lack of mental health resources in schools. There will be two presentations by members of the Racial Justice Committee and the Education Justice Committee from GirlGov, a civic engagement program centered in Pittsburgh. After the short presentations, the town hall will be open for questions where attendees can ask questions about police in schools, how to better mental health resources in schools.

I have the honor of working with the Women and Girls Foundation's civic engagement program GirlGov. This program is for those who identify as high-school aged young women interested in developing as our next generation of leaders, advocates, and change-makers.

The Education and Racial Justice Committees are currently working with legislators, stakeholders, school districts, and their peers to develop legislation and policy surrounding mental health and school policing in Pennsylvania.

This town hall will share the work the girls have done to this point, outline plans for the future, and seek the feedback of young people in the community. Everything from the research, marketing, and structure of this event has been created and executed by the young women who will be part of this panel.

While the event is primarily targeted to those between the ages of 14-20 I encourage all of my contacts who are involved in the mental health, education, and racial justice sector in Pittsburgh and beyond to please attend as listeners and share with appropriate parties.

Special thanks to Rep. Sara Innamorato for her support of this work.

Just a quick note, its a trying time right now in our country but I have the chance every week to meet with these girls on Thursday afternoons to outline plans with clear action steps to make a change. We may not get a bill passed, school codes may not change, but these young people have identified a problem, conducted research, and are working for clear small action items that will ultimately lead to great change. A lot of people are frustrated with systems and structures but few take the time to step away from the keyboard and do the work.

I am so proud of these women and I hope you all have the opportunity to learn more about their work and consider their policy positions.

Peace

#policeoutofschools #education #educationjustice #racialjustice