The Sandbox Impact Program is mobilizing new collaborations and building momentum for change across the Canadian child and youth health and wellbeing sectors. The 2021-2022 collaborations are prioritizing children and youth who are most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on four priority areas:

Mental health and wellbeing
The social determinants of health and vulnerable populations
Improving access to services and programs for parents and children, and
Filling data gaps

To reflect the increasing need to empower youth voices in these difficult circumstances, the 2021-2022 Sandbox Impact Program has introduced an additional collaborative emphasis on youth partnership. The Sandbox Project is pleased to be working with 7 lead organizations and their partners across Canada to support their innovative work in child and youth health and wellbeing.

Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (Calgary, Alberta)

Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (formerly the Calgary and Area Child Advocacy Centre) is a registered charity and a recognized centre of excellence in child abuse intervention and prevention. Their SIP-partnered initiative, the Caregiver Online PsychoEducation (COPE) Project, seeks to develop online psychoeducation modules for caregivers on how to support their child to cope while they wait for treatment following exposure to severe forms of maltreatment and trauma. For more information, please visit: https://www.lunacentre.ca/.

Child Welfare League of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario)

Established in 1994, the Child Welfare League of Canada is a national, membership-based charitable organization dedicated to promoting the safety and well-being of young people and their families, especially those who are vulnerable and marginalized. Their SIP-supported initiative, Equitable Transitions to Adulthood and A Just Recovery for Youth in Care, seeks to improve the health and wellness of young people in the child protection system by co-developing Equitable Standards for Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care with the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates and youth in and from care from across the country. These Equitable Standards are to be adhered to by provincial/territorial and federal governments, child welfare organizations and front line workers to ensure youth are not forced to transition to adulthood before they are ready, and before they have securely accessed housing, economic resources, health services, and connections to supportive people and communities. For more information, please visit: https://www.cwlc.ca/canadian-council

Mental Health Literacy (Calgary, Alberta)

Mental Health Literacy (formerly teenmentalhealth.org) is a knowledge translation group that creates best in class, freely available, online, evidence- based resources and programs designed for youth, families, educators and health care providers. Their SIP-partnered initiative, the Lived Experience Youth Advisory Video Series, seeks to create a lived experience video series by Mental Health Literacy’s youth advisory committee members as a tool for reducing stigma and discrimination around mental health and mental illness. For more information, please visit: https://mentalhealthliteracy.org/.

MySchoolROCKS (Mississauga, Ontario)

MySchoolROCKS is a registered charity that uses experiential music programs to support youth wellness by helping students manage negative situations in healthy ways and develop interpersonal skills that emphasize self-care, empathy, inclusivity, and team building. Their SIP-supported initiative, Youth Mental Wellness ROCKS, seeks to combine traditional instruments, complementary technology-based applications, such as DJ software and innovative wellness instruction to help students embrace growth mindsets and gain transferable tools for success. For more information, please visit: https://myschoolrocks.org/.

YouthNet/RéseauAdo (Ottawa, Ontario)

YouthNet/RéseauAdo (YNRA) is a for-youth, by-youth mental health promotion, intervention and advocacy organization operating out of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). Their SIP-partnered Youth Advisory Committee Migration project seeks to bring together youth leadership groups in the National Capital Region to connect on issues that are important to youth, especially as it pertains to mental health, in order to advance a larger youth-led strategy towards a society that understands and better supports mental health for all. For more information, please visit: http://ynra.ca/.

The Zeynab Asadi Lari Memorial Project

As tribute to the brilliant life and legacy of Zeynab Asadi Lari, the 2021-2022 Sandbox Impact Program includes a special initiative, the Zeynab Asadi Lari Memorial Project. This initiative is supporting two cross-sector collaborative projects focused on youth mental health:

Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative (Edmonton, Alberta)

Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative (MHBC) is a group of 128 multicultural health brokers representing 25 different cultural and linguistic communities in Edmonton to support the health and well-being of 2000 predominantly immigrant and newcomer families. Their SIP-supported initiative, Growing and Building our Communities, seeks to use a youth-led participatory research approach through community dialogues between teenagers and young adults from immigrant and refugee communities to explore the impact of racism on their mental health and how youth can heal from racism while advocating for change. For more information, please visit: https://mchb.org/.

COVID-19 Student Support Network (Saint John, New Brunswick)

Students, especially those transitioning from high school to university, face an unprecedented situation with a global pandemic changing their way of learning. The COVID-19 Student Support Network is a youth-run space for postsecondary students in Canada to share their thoughts and feelings towards the uncertainty around online learning. Their SIP-supported initiative seeks to develop the peer-to-peer model of the Network and implement a youth engagement strategy. For more information, please visit: https://www.covid19mentalhealthawareness.com/about.