Second Gentleman Pool Reports of July 15, 2022

SGOTUS Pool Report #1: Mental Health Listening Session

Present at table: Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Governor Kate Brown, USATF Athlete Noah Lyles, UO President Michael Schill, UO Vice Provost Kimberly Johnson, UO College of Education Dean Laura Lee McIntyre

Roundtable discussion centered around raising awareness about mental health and the role of university research in prevention and intervention support. **See final page for background notes forwarded from Second Gentleman's office.

10:23 a.m. Gov. Kate Brown and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff meet in board room 340 at the Erb Memorial Union at the University of Oregon on Friday, July 15, 2022.

UO President Michael Schill welcomes everyone to the university. "We are really exited about the opportunity to have this important discussion about mental and behavioral health. First, I want to start out by thanking Gov. Brown. Gov. Brown is a fabulous advocate for our state, but also for our university," Schill said.

Schill mentioned the Ballmer gift, Ballmer Institute for behavioral health and how they have helped identify the mental health crisis.

Schill, Brown and Emhoff all mentioned the BidenHarris administration's commitment to providing more funding toward mental health.
Brown said she's delighted to meet everyone here. She thanked UO for its research on behavioral health. "Oregon has struggled in terms of tackling behavioral health for the last several years, and I'm very, very pleased to see that our legislature was willing to commit significant resources to both diversifying our workforce, behavioral health workforce pipeline, as well as making sure our students have access to important services that they need to be successful." she said.

"We obviously can't do this alone and are incredibly grateful to our partners as well, including our community-based organizations as well as the University of Oregon," Brown said.

"The Ballmer Institute is literally the first of its kind and I think it's going to be a gamechanger in terms of how we train people to address the needs of our young people and in terms of behavioral health issues," Brown said.

Brown said the new 988 suicide and crisis help line launches on Saturday. Ensure 24-hour access.

"Noah, it's so great that someone of your stature and with such a big following, along with some other prominent athletes, have the courage to speak up… about mental health," said Douglas Emhoff. "It's a mental health crisis."

"I see it when I'm traveling around. Everything that was bad in this country was exacerbated by COVID. We all know – you know as educators. I see it with my own children, their friends," Emhoff said.

"For you (Noah) to come out and speak about it, it means a lot."

"A lot of the times its 'No one saw me. No one heard me. I felt alone,'" Emhoff said. "If we can destigmatize it and make it OK and make it a part of our normal, everyday conversations, talk about mental health, we can literally save lives."

Laura Lee McIntyre, Dean of College of Education. "The mental health crisis is something that we've lived, we've experienced. The needs in education, we see it every day… It's something that we cannot separate from our physical health and wellbeing."

McIntyre mentions the timing of this discussion aligning with the World Athletics Championships. "It is such an amazing time to do this and sort of kick off the world games with this conversation."

"It's very rare that our community, our institution of higher education, and our state and our federal priorities align," McIntyre said.

"It is not controversial to say we need to promote wellness," McIntyre said.

She said she wants Lyles' lived experiences "at the center" of the conversation.

Lyles has been a professional athlete since graduating high school. His parents and brother all competed professionally in track.

Lyles said he never imagined having a discussion with high-ranking government officials on this topic. When he initially spoke out online, he was just hoping to reach at least one person struggling with mental health.

"If somebody is brave enough to speak out, it's probably not a phase," Lyles said.

Lyles joked about his story being long, the table laughed. Encouraged table to ask questions while he speaks.

He has NCAA champion parents, both trained for Olympics. His dad coached with JJ Clark.
Attended TC Williams High School. Homeschooled until second grade. Had a lot of respect for his mom. Once enrolled in traditional school, he found he was not a traditional learner. He had ADD and dyslexic.

"When we did move to North Carolina, that was when I learned I had ADD, I learned that I had dyslexia… My biggest challenge became more of a mental health side (from his learning disorders). It was going to special classes and being afraid (of) being bullied." He was ashamed that he needed extra help, which began his mental health struggle.

That was his first introduction to therapy, encouraged by his mom. She started learning about her identity outside of track through therapy. She sought out services for herself and her children.

"I see now the journey that she walked so I don't have to. The journey she walked so I could run."
By going through her own mental health journey, she was able to recognize her children needed that same treatment to break the cycle. Prevent a breakdown in the future. "Were a family of planners," Lyles said.

"I remember we were in high school and we would just constantly tell my mom… not every parent is like you. She just couldn't fathom the idea that you wouldn't want to take care of your child… She sees parenting as guidance." Prepare child for the future to make their own decisions as they gout older and more responsible.

McIntyre said "Not everyone hasthe privilege of having a parent who's as involved and as devoted, who has the time to do that... Not everyone has your mom. When we think about what we can do in our communities, we've got to level the playing field. You have an incredible advantage because of having a loving caring parent who's there.
"We must have systems in place to detect problems early," McIntyre said. She pointed to a need for the next generation to step up as behavioral health leaders.

"We need your mom times billions." McIntyre said.

"Major companies need to get behind this," Emhoff said. "Sometimes, even when there are services, employees are afraid to use them."
"We also need the supports for those parents in childcare," McIntyre said.

The table exploded over early childhood services and wraparound services.

Vice Provost Kimberly Johnson said "There is a huge generational and cultural shift that's finally happening, because in reality most of the students that I work with can't have those conversations with family… Often it's diagnosed as a behavioral thing versus they just need support in how to navigate it."

"We employ a model of growth mindset… we truly try to normalize it," Johnson said.
Johnson mentioned a focus on normalizing mental health resources to let young people know "it's not just you."

Repeatedly talking about serving the "whole person."

A lot of our students are starting to feel more empowered to voice their needs.

It's not just the responsibility of counselors, it falls to all faculty and staff, according to McIntyre.

"It creates a sense of shared responsibility and community," McIntyre

Brown asked Lyles about what his experience has been like as a man speaking up about mental health. Brown said it's often harder for men to speak about their mental health than it is for women. Lyles said his emotions usually comes off in aggression instead of his true feeling.

"I was constantly asking myself, 'Why am I so angry? Why am I acting this way towards people that have not warranted any type of aggression?' That was a signal. 'Okay. I need to talk to somebody," Lyles said. "When I did turn pro. After a year, I started doing a lot better than my brother had been doing in my career… I felt that it was more of his dream… I felt that I was living his journey and I felt guilty for that… Once I did start doing better I started shouldering the monetary value of the family… We still have that dream today, but I never thought I would be doing it by myself."

Lyles had to recognize his aggression as a "stress behavior" and look at the root of why he felt the way his did so he could address it. "My biggest fear is that I'd turn into a narcissist."

"It's a rare opportunity to just hear honestly about the tension between struggle and success," McIntyre.

"Behavioral health is an issue that impacts all of us. We all have family members who've struggled. What I appreciate about Oregon is that this an issue that we can set aside political differences and that we all agree, our advocates, our parents, our educators all agree that it's incredibly important that particularly young people, particularly our children we need to make sure that they have the support and services that they need," Brown said

Meeting concluded around 11:15 a.m.

BACKGROUND: MENTAL HEALTH LISTENING SESSION WITH SECOND GENTLEMAN EMHOFF, GOVERNOR BROWN, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, AND TEAM USA ATHLETE
As part of his visit to attend the opening ceremony of the World Athletics Championships, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff will join Oregon Governor Kate Brown, University of Oregon President Michael Schill and University of Oregon, and U.S. Track and Field Athlete Noah Lyles for a discussion on the importance of mental health awareness.

This conversation will also highlight the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to ensuring that every American is provided access to mental health services and resources.

Biden-Harris Administration's Commitment to Mental Health
As part of his Unity Agenda, President Biden has put forward a comprehensive national strategy to tackle the mental health crisis. President Biden used his State of the Union Address to call for a major transformation in how mental health is understood, accessed, treated, and integrated – in and out of health care settings.

• Across the federal government, the Administration invested nearly $4 billion in American Rescue Plan funding to expand access to mental health and substance use services.
• The President's fiscal year 2023 budget goes further by proposing over $27 billion in discretionary funding and another $100 billion in mandatory funding over 10 years to implement his national strategy and transform behavioral health services for all Americans.
• The Biden-Harris Administration increased federal investments in the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 18-fold, from $24 million to $432 million, to scale up capacity, and to provide special services, including a sub-network for Spanish language speakers.

The three objectives of the President's mental health strategy are: strengthening system capacity, connecting more Americans to care, and a creating a continuum of support.

Event Participants

• Second Gentleman of the United States Douglas Emhoff
• Oregon Governor Kate Brown
• University of Oregon President Michael Schill
• Laura Lee McIntyre, UO Education Dean and Castle-McIntosh-Knight Professor of school psychology in the Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences, member, Prevention Sciences Institute
• Kimberly Johnson, Vice Provost Undergraduate Education & Student Success
• Noah Lyles, Team USA Athlete