NEW YORK, February 5, 2021 — In 2020, powerful and unexpected forces reshaped the world in which we carry out our mission to disrupt generational poverty and address inequities through research, policy, training, interventions and community forums. Our 2020 Annual Report describes how we met the moment, driven by the knowledge that the need for policies and interventions that disrupt poverty and inequity is as urgent as ever.
Highlights include:
- Our policy efforts relating to mental health reached an important milestone in September 2020, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5469, The Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act, legislation authored by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, NJ) to address the disparities in access, care and study of mental health issues among people of color.
- To address the growing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted trainings and webinars relating to telemedicine, emergency regulatory changes and the impact on both recipients and care providers of care, reaching an audience of 25,774 individuals at human service agencies primarily in New York.
- We received additional funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study the effectiveness of our Making Connections Intervention for keeping Black adolescents engaged in depression treatment. The additional funding expands the population sample of the study to include Latinx youth.
- Our policy and community outreach work expanded into education about ranked-choice voting, early voting, the U.S. Census engagement and transportation equity.
- We launched the second season of our podcast series, Black Boys and Men: Changing the Narrative.
- Throughout the year we presented our insights and led discussions in dozens of venues and with numerous community partners, including the Congressional Black Caucus, NIMH, FCC, American Society for Suicide Prevention, Manhattan Borough President’s Office, New York Urban League, FPWA, Greater New York Chapter of the Links, Inc., East Harlem Tutorial Program and The Haitian Roundtable.
- More than 100 media outlets ran coverage of the McSilver Institute in 2020, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, People, USA Today, NPR/Morning Edition, Spectrum News – NY1, Psychiatric News and The Washington Post.
Our annual report contains details about these developments and many more. As always, we thank our McSilver staff, funders, NYU colleagues, many community partners and you for your continuing support of our work.