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Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health |
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View this as a webpage
April 2025
 Note: We are moving to a new newsletter schedule. Going forward, this newsletter will be released every other month instead of every month.
Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health (MNPAH) is an action plan to guide adolescent and young adult health in Minnesota. This collaboratively developed plan was created to motivate, engage, and inspire action. It recognizes the important contributions and amazing ideas that exist across our great state. Each month this newsletter will highlight a priority from the plan and showcase an adolescent health partner in Minnesota.
In this edition
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In recognition, we are featuring a partner excelling in community support and prevention of violence.
SEWA-AIFW has been a hub for the South Asian diaspora since 2004. SEWA, meaning “to serve” in Hindi, centers around total family wellness for South Asian communities in the Twin Cities. SEWA-AIFW offers a wide variety of programming including youth programs, women’s programs, neurodiverse programming, men’s circle, weekly senior’s social gathering and culturally-specific meal deliveries, refugee resettlement services, gender and family-based violence preventative support and interventions, peer-to-peer support, and larger community-based events.
The mission of SEWA’s Youth Program is to create a safe space for youth to practice self-mindfulness, engage in thoughtful dialogues with one another, enhance connections, support each other, and celebrate the diversity in each other’s mindset and identities.
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- The Sooraj (“sun”) program is for ages 13-17 and focuses on identity-building, leadership training, and growing the stems for culturally-specific and age-appropriate sexual health education.
- The Chaand (“moon”) program is for ages 18-24 and consistently hosts a youth-led Brown Breakfast Club peer-to-peer support group and Life Without Limca podcast, designed to host dialogues on mental health, healthy relationships and boundaries, teen dating, healing, and transformative justice. New additions to Chaand have included safety kit trainings and BAAT Book Club (“word, matter”) to read and discuss different book genres.
SEWA-AIFW Youth Program Safety Kit Training
In January 2024, SEWA staff researched and crafted tools for youth to navigate threatening events and use as a first defense in situational awareness and de-escalation in the case of an emergency. The goal in giving these to youth is to initiate a dialogue about interpersonal and communal safety and build body autonomy and awareness. During these trainings, SEWA facilitators first lead the group through icebreaker exercises and games to strengthen the bond in the group and make the space safe for such an important dialogue.
SEWA-AIFW's annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month programming
As a direct service provider for gender-based violence prevention work, SEWA-AIFW recognizes the necessity to highlight sexual assault and violence within the South Asian diaspora. SEWA is excited to host the second annual “Ummid for Safety” event on April 26, providing resources, performances, and artistic and cultural healing centered around sexual assault awareness for South Asian and other BIPOC community members in the Twin Cities. SEWA warmly invites artists, writers, healers, and service providers who are interested in collaborating for this event to please apply.
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We need your input!
Please respond to the 2025 Title V maternal and child health needs assessment community input survey.
Every five years, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) completes a comprehensive needs assessment to better understand the current state of health and wellbeing of women, children, and families in Minnesota. Our goal is to deepen our understanding of how people in Minnesota understand and see themselves in the work that state and local Title V programs do to address the needs of women, children, and families.
The community input survey is being distributed to all families and communities across Minnesota, including all people who work with women, children, and families across the state.
Individuals who complete the survey by May 18 will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card and 20 entries will be selected.
Ramsey County Mental Health Urgent Care now also serving youth 13-18
Innovative mental health supports and services are needed across the state to support the wellbeing of young people. Ramsey County’s Mental Health Urgent Care is one example of these supports.
Mental Health Urgent Care provides services to residents of Ramsey County who are experiencing a mental health or chemical health crisis. Walk-in services include access to an on-site team of psychiatrists, social workers and trained peer support staff that provide person-centered, recovery-focused care.
The Mental Health Urgent Care offers an alternative to visiting the emergency room during a mental health crisis. Recently, the mental health urgent care became the first in the state to support youths ages 13-18 and their families with extended, urgent care hours, the 24/7 crisis line, and off-site respite services.
Location:
402 University Avenue East
Saint Paul, MN 55130
Hours
Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
- If you are in crisis, calls are answered 24/7/365.
- Under 18 years old? Call the Children's Mental Health Crisis Line: 651-266-7878.
- Over 18 years old? Call the Adult Mental Health Crisis Line: 651-266-7900.
Do you know an organization who should be featured in our newsletter? Contact us: Health.AdolescentHealth@state.mn.us.
Minnesota Student Survey
The Minnesota Student Survey will be conducted this spring at participating schools and institutions across the state. The survey is conducted once every three years with middle and high schools. School participation is voluntary, and individual students or parents can opt out of taking the survey.
This survey is a vital source of anonymous self-reporting data on many under-reported issues. It is critical to have as much school participation in the survey as possible to ensure data is accurate and available for use consistently across the state.
Background information about the Minnesota Student Survey is available on the Minnesota Student Survey website.
Interested in exploring Minnesota Student Survey data from prior years? Access data through the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Minnesota Student Survey Reports 2013-2022 webpage or by request Minnesota Student Survey Data Request Form and Data User Agreement.
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Youth Leadership Opportunity: Advocates for Youth
Applications are now open to join Advocates for Youth’s youth organizing programs for the 2025-26 school year.
Accepted applicants will be in community with nearly 100 youth activists aged 14-24 in a year-long fellowship who receive training, support, and $600 per semester stipends to organize for sexual health, rights, and justice in their community. Youth organizers will also be flown to Washington, D.C. to receive in-depth training at our Youth Activist Institute in September, a life-changing experience where they will network with fellow youth activists and build essential organizing skills.
Encourage youth to gain year-round support for their activism and build their power as an organizer.
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May is Mental Health Month
While mental health is important to address year-round, Mental Health Awareness Month provides a dedicated time for people, organizations, and communities to join their voices to broadcast the message that mental health matters.
MDH has created a toolkit with ideas, resources, and messages to help you raise awareness about the importance of mental health and suicide prevention.
The toolkit is a starting point. Individuals, organizations, and communities are encouraged to tailor messages for their communities and add images and graphics to boost visibility and engagement.
Learn more and download the toolkit: Mental Health Awareness Month Toolkit 2025.
May is Adolescent Health Month
Each May, the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) celebrates National Adolescent Health Month. This annual observance emphasizes the importance of building on young people’s strengths and potential, encouraging meaningful youth engagement in adolescent health activities, and highlighting key topics in adolescent health.
Adolescent Health Month is a time for adults from across the country to come together and support the health and wellbeing of adolescents in our communities. During Adolescent Health Month, and all year long, health care and human services providers, youth-serving professionals, advocates, parents and caregivers, and OPA grant recipients connect youth to services and opportunities that build on their strengths and potential.
MDH will soon offer sharable social media and other ideas to celebrate Adolescent Health Month in May on the National Adolescent Health Month webpage.
Better Together Hennepin Youth Summit
Better Together Hennepin is hosting a Youth Summit event for young people ages 14-18. The Youth Summit is a half-day event that focuses on mental, physical, and social wellbeing of teens. There will be workshops, breakout sessions, tabling and resources from community organization across Hennepin County.
Date: Saturday, May 10, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Location:
Minneapolis American Indian Center
1530 E Franklin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Registration.
2025 Summer Institute in Adolescent Health
Shaping Healthy Communities: Unleashing the Power of Youth
In a time of rapid change, young people are navigating uncertainty and feelings of disconnection. However, one thing remains clear - community is a powerful source of health, wellbeing, and fulfillment. Strong communities are built on three core pillars: relationships, purpose, and civic action.
At the 2025 Adolescent Health Summer Institute, participants will explore how to strengthen these pillars with and for our young people. Attend the 2025 Summer Institute and become a catalyst for positive change as we work together to build stronger, more connected communities where all young people can thrive.
Date: July 28-31, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Location:
The Dakota Lodge
1200 Stassen Ln
West St. Paul, MN 55118
Registration.
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Next Generation Public Health Pathways grant
MDH is allocating funding to support creative initiatives that introduce and connect Minnesotans to public health careers, with a special emphasis on governmental public health opportunities. Grants will range from $20,000 to $75,000 per project to fund innovative approaches that create sustainable entry points into the field.
Learn more and apply by May 12.
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The Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health
This collaboratively developed plan was designed to support community-based efforts with a unifying vision, and collectively agreed-upon priorities to motivate, engage, and inspire action. Efforts can be led by a wide variety of groups such health systems, youth-serving organizations, or young people. If your agency has a program that you would like featured or an event or resource you’d like to share with this network, please send it to us at Health.AdolescentHealth@state.mn.us.
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