On August 12, 2025, International Youth Day, an event was held at the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília (DF), bringing together lawmakers, experts, and young leaders to discuss child and adolescent mental health. The debate took place at the Freitas Nobre Auditorium and aimed to promote intersectoral dialogue, advance public policies focused on youth, and strengthen youth leadership in discussions on mental health. The panel included federal deputies José Airton (PT-CE), Amom Mandel (CIDADANIA-AM), and Ana Paula Lima (PT-SC).
The “Roundtable on Youth Mental Health” is an initiative of the Chamber’s Secretariat for Early Childhood, Childhood, Adolescence and Youth; the Joint Parliamentary Front for the Promotion of Mental Health (FPSM); and the Institute for Health Policy Studies (IEPS), with support from Infinis – Instituto Futuro é Infância Saudável, a new organization within the Fundação José Luiz Setúbal system that works to defend public health for children and adolescents. The roundtable is also supported by the Instituto Betty e Jacob Lafer, Jovens Líderes Pela Paz, the National Youth Secretariat (SNJ), and the National Youth Council (CONJUVE).
“Spaces for qualified discussion that actively involve young people alongside public authorities, as well as experts in the field, are an important path toward developing qualified public policies and adapting services in a way that considers the specificities of this age group for child and adolescent mental health,” says Marcia Kalvon, Executive Director of Infinis. “Schools play an essential role in promoting the overall well-being of children, adolescents, and young people, and in welcoming and preventing mental health problems. For this reason, youth leadership and intersectoral dialogue in the territories, with the involvement of school communities, are strategic to ensure this right to healthy development through the promotion of mental health.”
“Discussing youth mental health is a social and political urgency. This is an agenda that must be built through listening, intersectoral dialogue, and youth leadership. The Parliamentary Front’s mission is to build bridges between Parliament, civil society, and experts so that public policies are truly transformative and connected to the reality of schools, communities, and the country’s outskirts”, says Deputy Ana Paula Lima (PT/SC), coordinator of the FPSM’s children and adolescents axis. The lawmaker is also the author of Bill 2,633/25, which addresses mental health in the workplace.
Launches
During the event, the special edition of Stanford Social Innovation Review Brasil (SSIR) on child and adolescent mental health was launched, presented by Infinis. The publication “Mental Health: the collective challenge in schools” brings together articles by experts, researchers, and civil society leaders, and offers reflections and concrete proposals to address the rise in mental disorders among children and adolescents. Focusing on coordination between education, health, and the community, the special issue points to ways to transform schools into spaces of care, active listening, and prevention.
In addition to the magazine publication, Infinis also made available the publication on the 6th Public Health Policies Forum for Childhood, an annual event of the Fundação José Luiz Setúbal held in October 2024. The compilation brings together texts, data, and research discussed during the forum, with the aim of expanding knowledge about mental health in Brazilian school communities and designing solutions to the problems faced by young people.
Programme
The first panel, “National Youth Policy in dialogue with Parliament,” was moderated by Federal Deputy José Airton (PT-CE), Secretary for Early Childhood, Childhood, Adolescence and Youth of the Chamber, and a representative of the Juntô Jovem collective. The panel included representatives from the National Youth Secretariat (SNJ), the National Youth Council (CONJUVE), the Department of Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs (DESMAD), as well as Federal Deputy Amom Mandel (Cidadania-AM).
Next, the Guerra do Flow collective gave a cultural performance. Founded in Planaltina (DF), it is an MC battle that has existed for more than a decade, focused on democratizing access to culture and developing actions aimed at the community. The performance brought together names such as Nimsai, Balota, Aline MC, JP, Maoli, and Jhon MC.
The second panel, “Youth Mental Health in Perspective,” focused on young people’s views on the topic and was moderated by Federal Deputy Ana Paula Lima (PT-SC), coordinator of the mental health axis of the Parliamentary Front for the Promotion of Mental Health (FPSM), and Eduardo Vasconcelos, Youth Engagement Director at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. With the aim of bringing the perspectives of young leaders and professionals, the debate included representatives from projects such as Saúde nas Quebradas, Jovem de Expressão, the School Health Program, Pronasci Juventude, the Instituto Cactus Youth Committees, and the Juntô Jovem Initiative.