Over 200 middle and high school students from across 21 schools in Northern Kentucky attended this year’s Northern Kentucky Regional Youth Summit on Suicide Prevention on Oct. 24.
The students participated in breakout sessions and activities guided to strengthen their leadership and advocacy skills, feel empowered to make a change in their community, help to address youth substance use and suicide trends and foster resiliency skills to better cope with mental illness.
This regional summit was held at Northern Kentucky University and led by the NKY Institute for Strategic Prevention, with over 45 community partners and organizations coming together, offering their support, expertise, and funding for the event.
At the event, the NKY Institute for Strategic Prevention launched an NKY Youth Advisory Board in which students can join and collaborate on regional projects to impact behavioral health prevention initiatives and make changes in their local schools and communities. The goal of the Regional Youth Summit and the launch of the Youth Advisory Board is to amplify youth voices in substance use and suicide prevention efforts and provide more leadership and advocacy efforts across the region.Â
