Blueprint4 recognizes that promoting mental health is critical to a child’s ability to learn and grow. Below, we have listed a variety of local and national resources to help all camp providers and educators begin conversations about mental health, create safe spaces, and address mental health issues.

Mental Health Information

• Infographic: Youth Mental Health: Emotions matter: Resource from the Mental Health Association of America describing the challenges youth face in terms of mental health and ways to support teens.
• Teen Safe Resources: A list of resources and information about substance abuse, addiction treatment, prevention and parent/educator resources.
• Child Mind Institute: This resources list provides articles and information to assist parents and educators in helping children with various mental health and learning challenges.
• The Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health and Substance Use: Updated in 2023, this article describes the impact of Covid-19 on mental health and substance abuse, utilizing the latest available data to help inform new responses to growing mental health concerns.

Mental Health Lesson Plans

• Can We Talk Lesson Plans: Can We Talk has created a printable lesson plan to help middle and high school teachers educate students about the stigma around mental illness, raise awareness of students’ own emotional states, and begin discussions around mental health.
• Easing Student Anxiety in the Classroom: This resource includes information and tips on how to reduce student anxiety, the most common childhood mental illness, in the classroom which can be applied to sumer programs and camps as well.
• Personal, Mental and Emotional Health from PBS: This website helps students, teachers, and caretakers explore the many aspects of Personal, Mental, and Emotional Health through an assortment of resources, including videos and lesson plans, that cover topics stretching from cosmetology, to brain trauma, to pregnancy, to vaping.
• Classroom Mental Health: Resources for educators and providers that help start conversations about mental health with students and how to support student throughout a mental health crisis..
• How to talk about Mental Health Issues: This article provides advice for students, parents, educators, or caretakers on how to discuss mental health issues.
  

Organizations

NAMI St. Louis: A non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and adults with mental health conditions and their families in the St. Louis region. For over 40 years, NAMI St. Louis has worked to promote the development of community mental health programs and services, change public attitudes about mental health conditions, improve access to services and increase opportunities for recovery.

Start Here STL: Start Here provides an up-to-date directory of resources for a variety of needs across the St. Louis Area. Included in this is a list of mental health resources available to all St. Louis area residents.

St. Louis Mental Health Board: Administers the Community Health Fund and the Community Children’s Services Fund

Safe Connections: Safe Connections’ award-winning, nationally-accredited programs reduce the impact and incidence of domestic and sexual violence through youth education, 24-hour crisis care, and therapy for adult and teen survivors.