NGA Chair New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy opened the first plenary session of the 2023 NGA Winter Meeting with an overview of his 2022-2023 Chair’s Initiative: Strengthening Youth Mental Health. In response to rising rates of mental health distress among young people, Governor Murphy first introduced his NGA Chair’s Initiative in July. Through the Strengthening Youth Mental Health initiative, Governors from across the nation are collaborating to develop bipartisan, state solutions. Part of this work has included conducting roundtable discussions to focus on the four pillars of the Chair’s Initiative. In January, Governor Murphy was joined by Colorado Governor Jared Polis to lead the second of four roundtable discussions focused on the Chair’s Initiative. A previous roundtable was hosted in Utah by NGA Vice Chair Utah Governor Spencer Cox.
After opening remarks from Governor Murphy and Governor Cox, Governor Murphy started the plenary session noting, “As leaders, one of the most important and sacred responsibilities is protecting the health and well-being of our kids, and for far too long, mental health and well-being of our young people has been overlooked, and the consequences are impossible to…
