TRENTON, NJ – Never one to let a good ‘National Day’ go to waste, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy spiked the football on the ongoing youth mental health crisis in New Jersey.
“As Chairman of the @NatlGovsAssoc, I released a playbook in July for governors & policymakers to address youth mental health challenges. On #WorldMentalHealthDay, we reaffirm our commitment to reducing mental health crises & expanding access to treatment for all,” Murphy touted on Twitter.
Murphy and his administration have created a comprehensive response to the youth mental health crisis plaguing New Jersey and America, but many criticized the governor, claiming he created the crisis.
Critics say Murphy’s extended COVID-19 lockdowns, remote learning and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to mental health crisis among teens and young adults in New Jersey.
That led to the need for Murphy to create the “Strengthening Youth Mental Health Playbook”.
In a sense, you can say Phil Murphy was touting his solution to a problem he is being blamed for creating.
Mental health issues among youth and young adults are on the rise in New Jersey, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and extended isolation, in some cases as much as a year.
The criticism wasn’t kind.
“You’re the moron who caused mental health challenges in our youth by keeping them locked down, out of school and stuck in masks. Best if you sat this one out,” said Woke Zombie, a Twitter account that has been critical for years of the Governor’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
Others criticized Murphy’s agenda on LGBTQ and transgender issues on children in New Jersey.
“Here’s my playbook. Stop overloading kids with all of your indoctrination of Cre, trans, lgbtq…, drugs. Let kids be kids. Take the stressors out of their lives until a later age. No more unqualified teachers acting like licensed trained mental health professionals,” said Gary Stevens.
“You literally caused most of the adolescent mental health crisis with your over-the-top lockdowns…You were more beholden to the teacher’s Union than you were to the children of the taxpayers of NJ. You should sit this one out,” said Ed Miller.
Murphy knows he is being blamed for the crisis.
That’s why the opening statement of his playbook immediately goes on defense in the first paragraph.
“Even before the pandemic turned the world upside down, our young people were struggling with a mental health crisis that has only grown more serious in recent years. Yet we have reason to feel optimistic that we can reverse these trends and help our children,” Murphy said.
The playbook is essentially four bullet points.
- Addressing prevention and building resilience: Supporting youth with the necessary tools to respond to stressors and challenges, reducing the risk of mental health conditions, and proactively identifying and managing existing conditions to prevent crises.
- Increasing awareness and reducing stigma: Promoting awareness of mental health knowledge and resources, and decreasing the social, self and structural stigma around youth mental health challenges.
- Ensuring access and affordability of quality treatment and care: Removing the barriers to care, including unaffordable costs, lack of insurance coverage and a depleted workforce to ensure that high-quality, trauma-informed and culturally relevant care is accessible to youth in appropriate places, spaces and timeframes to meet their needs.
- Training and supporting caregivers and educators: Expanding training and supports so that those caring for and interacting with youth daily have the understanding and tools to identify mental health needs to access relevant supports.