The Solutions Journalism Network's HEAL and Youth Building and Belonging (YBB) Fellowships support U.S. journalists to report on, for, and with young people on youth mental health and wellbeing. While both fellowships share a commitment to solutions journalism, they focus on different issue areas within youth mental health. 

The HEAL Fellowship, now in its third year, supports journalists to report on systemic mental health solutions — including what's working to fill the clinical care gap, to support young people through sudden distress, and to create access to culturally relevant supports. You can read about the 2025-26 HEAL Fellows and their projects here. Examples of previous HEAL stories include:

• Children of incarcerated parents find community at summer camp
• How Utah Is Looking Out for Kids Who Lose a Parent 
• Youth drug use is down, but overdoses have risen. One town’s schools have a possible solution   

The Youth Building and Belonging (YBB) Fellowship, now in its second year, supports journalists to report on the pre-conditions of youth wellbeing — including what's working to create connection in schools and local spaces, to build young people's economic security and mobility, and to instill joy, confidence, and resilience.  You can read about the 2025-26 YBB Fellows and their projects here. Examples of previous YBB stories include:

• Training the Young Workers Chicago's Schools Are Leaving Behind
• For Seattle’s public space manager, children’s playtime is serious business 
• Basketball builds better mental health for youth in Federal Way

Because of the different issue areas investigated within the two fellowships, the HEAL and YBB fellows also tend to differ in terms of their community engagement and impact. While HEAL projects more often have impact through cross-pollination of effective solutions across communities (e.g. other states replicating a policy), YBB projects lend themselves to increasing community connection and fostering civic engagement (e.g. rebuilding trust across divides). As such, HEAL fellows may receive more training in accountability and data reporting, while YBB fellows may receive more training in deep listening and facilitation.

Ten fellows will be selected for each fellowship according to the following criteria: 

Successful fellowship projects will:

• Produce rigorous solutions stories on youth mental health — with a clear focus on to the four pillars of solutions journalism: how the response works, evidence of the response’s effectiveness, insight into why a solution works, and limitations on where the response falls short  
• Design and lead community engagement that connects their solutions reporting to the communities they cover
• Demonstrate measurable impact by educating audiences, influencing institutions, or increasing community connection and civic engagement around the solutions reporting

What do the Fellows receive?

• Deep connections with a tight-knit community of solutions journalism fellows from around the world, who will serve as lasting sources of accountability, problem-solving and encouragement during and beyond the yearlong fellowship;
• Access to exclusive professional development sessions from SJN staff and external partners on storytelling, engagement, fundraising, equity and more;
• An honorarium of up to $5,000, proportional to the scope of the fellow’s project

What is the timeline for the application, decisions, and onboarding? 

APPLICATION PERIOD (September 21 – October 16, 11:59pm ET): Five-question application plus one 60-second video. Application should take no longer than one hour to complete.

INFORMATION SESSION: September 28 11am ET: Are you interested in reporting on youth mental health and wellbeing? The Solutions Journalism Network is looking for our next two cohorts of fellows for our HEAL and YBB fellowships. Join us on September 28 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time to learn more. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/pdTdN70XS-GEbmg4LQopMg  

SELECTION AND ONBOARDING (October 16 – November 7): Fellows will be selected, notified, and onboarded.

• YBB KICKOFF (November 11, 2026, 1pm ET): Fellows from YBB cohort meet one another and learn about the fellowship.
• HEAL KICKOFF (November 12, 2026, 11am ET): Fellows from HEAL cohort meet one another and learn about the fellowship.
• JOINT TRAINING IN COMPLICATING THE NARRATIVES (CTN) (November 18, 2026, 1pm ET): First joint professional development session for both cohorts.

FELLOWSHIP PERIOD (December 2026 – December 2027): Over the course of the twelve-month fellowship, fellows will engage in monthly calls and professional development sessions, produce solutions stories, lead community engagement, and participate in a social media campaign.