If your mailbox seems to be bursting with begs from non-governmental organizations concerned with segments of the population of individuals with disabilities, then it is probably like mine. In this post, I’m focusing on mental health organizations; in future iterations I’ll focus on intellectual disabililty, learning disability, and other disorders.

Please add relevant organzations (non-governmental, not-for-profit) in the comments. (If you have recommendations about NGOs for the forthcoming disability areas, please send me a note so I can add them to the future posts.) For the record, I do not receive financial benefits from these organziations.

Mental health

• The World Health Organization has an annual campaign to promote awareness of and services for individuals with mental illness. The campaign for 2021 occurred in October. My search of WHO didn’t locate any results specific to children and adolescents; if you have a link that is worth sharing, please add it in a comment.

• The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has an affiliate, PSCentre.org, that is concerned with mental health. It offers resources expressly addressing the mental health of children and youths.

• The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Network is an organization with global reach. It connects people and organizations interested in mental health, and some of its resources are specific to children and youth.

• Mental Health Australia is a long-standing organization devoted to mental health issues. SANE Australia also works in the mental health space.

• Mental Health Europe is non-governmental organization connecting diverse other groups. Among many activities, it promotes advocacy, prevention, and care related to mental health. Its Web site provides links to many resources specially associated with children and youth.

• Youth Mental Health Canada, has an explicit focus on providing resources regarding mental health for Canadians. Interestingly, it includes youth among its leadership team; check out the list of action statements.

• The (US) National Alliance for Mental Illness has been active since the late 1970s. Although its focus is on mental health in general, it provides advocacy, education, and support for children and youth with disabilities and their families. There is, for example, a free coloring book. available in both Spanish and English, this month (link for download).

• Affiliated with the Council for Exceptional Children, the Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health has an explicit focus on the mental health of children and youth. DEBH, which was earlier known as the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders, helps educators address emotional and behavioral disorders through advocacy, research, professional development, and more.