LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is proclaiming May 23 as "Let's Erase the Stigma Youth Day" throughout Los Angeles County to recognize youth leadership in mental health and raise interest from young people, a demographic historically uninvolved in mental health advocacy. The children's charity Let's Erase the Stigma Educational Foundation (LETS), in partnership with the Department of Mental Health, will be presented a scroll in recognition of Let's Erase the Stigma Youth Day at the county's Regular Meeting of the Board of Supervisors on May 17 at 9:30 A.M., as arranged by Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District. The proclamation coincides with Let's Erase the Stigma First Annual Youth Summit on May 23, 2011 at the California Endowment, where 250 high school students from Los Angeles County schools and Transition Age Youth programs will receive scholarships to spend the day talking openly about mental illness and stigma.
This year's Summit will mark the beginning of Let's Erase the Stigma Youth Day, an annual cultural event that invites young people to plan clear ideas of how they can create lasting change in the perception of mental illness through social inclusion, prevention, early education, and peer-to-peer dialogue. Diverse youth from LETS Clubs in Los Angeles schools have formed a Youth Planning Committee to c