Active Policy Solutions, Terri Lakowski [CEO]

05/27/2026

Last year, ESPN launched an initiative called “Take Back Sports”, which focuses on funding opportunities in youth sports by investing in community recreation leagues, quality coaching, multisport play, and mental wellness. According to this report, the initiative has since reached nearly one million children and 67,000 coaches.

Learn how Disney and ESPN are working together so the next generation grows up with access to the benefits — and joy — of sports.

05/26/2026

Kudos to our client Doc Wayne Youth Services, Inc. on being featured by WBZ / CBS News Boston for Mental Health Awareness Month. In this clip, Managing Director Rebekah Roulier discusses the programs Doc Wayne offers to train professionals who work with youth to assist them in recognizing signs of stress and ways to offer support.

Boston-based Doc Wayne Mental Health Services provides mental health services through sports.

05/22/2026

Kudos to our client National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI) on being selected as USA Swimming's authorized provider of all background screenings:

Coaches, officials, and other adult members under USA Swimming will now complete background checks through NCSI as part of an updated screening process.

05/21/2026

This Higher Ed Dive article takes a look at the lawsuit filed this week by a coalition of 25 states against the US Department of Education, in which the states contend that the ED imposed requirements not found in statute that limit federal student loan access for graduate nursing and other fields.
https://ow.ly/www950Z2IM0

05/20/2026

Kudos to our client Girls on the Run International on its partnership with singer Carrie Underwood’s wellness company, HiNote:

Carrie Underwood has launched a new wellness brand, HiNote, designed to help women with an [...]

05/19/2026

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, an area in which APS is well-versed in promoting policy. We’re currently working with the American College Health Association on the College Students Continuation of Mental Health Care Act, which would ensure continuity of students' mental health care, regardless of their geographic location. Many thanks to Congressman Mike Flood for introducing the bill, to Congressman Don Bacon, Congressman Zach Nunn, and Rep. Rob Wittman for being the original cosponsors, and to the 17 Members who have since joined them.

As a result of the 2025 American College Health Association (ACHA) Annual Advocacy Committee Hill Day, ACHA introduced legislation that ensures continuity of mental health care for students, regardless of their geographic location. Specifically, ACHA collaborated with the office of Rep. Mike Flood (...

05/18/2026

On Wednesday, May 20, the Chronicle of Higher Education is hosting a free webinar, “Trump and Higher Ed: the Latest,” at 1 pm ET. Funding cuts, regulatory shifts, and court cases are reshaping the federal policy realm for colleges, and this session will discuss recent developments and what they may indicate about the direction of higher ed policy in the months to come.

Join us for a series of webinars to examine challenges colleges face as the Trump administration transforms higher education.

05/15/2026

Today is Mental Health America's Mental Health Day of Action, where the public is urged to contact their Congressional representatives about funding mental health prevention and early intervention by agreeing to cosponsor the EARLY Minds Act.

Urge Congress to fund mental health prevention and early intervention and co-sponsor the EARLY Minds Act (H.R.1735 / S.779)

05/14/2026

This Inside Higher Ed article looks at how student success initiatives at schools across the US have shifted from isolated programs to institution-wide strategies.

New APLU report finds public and land-grant universities have moved from disparate student success programs to coordinated, data-driven strategies.

05/13/2026

Kudos to our client PRO Youth and Families on the success of their annual Hope Rises Here Event, which honored several outstanding young program participants and some of PRO’s community partners.

05/12/2026

The Aspen Institute Sports & Society and its Project Play initiative partnered with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University for a national study of nearly 4,000 youth sports participants to better understand their experiences in sports. This report lists 15 key findings in areas such as parental influence, motivations for youth in joining teams, injury concerns, and the role of coaches as mentors.

To reach the federal government’s goal of 63% of children participating in organized sports by 2030 , it’s critical to both recruit and retain youth athletes. That requires understanding different perspectives from current, former and never players. What characteristics of sports and broader sys...