New Jersey has an extraordinary opportunity to make a lasting investment in the health and well-being of its young people.
An August 2026 multistate settlement with Meta is expected to bring more than $500 million to New Jersey over the course of 10 years. Addressing social media’s harms should mean more than treating their effects. It should mean investing in the relationships, environments, and opportunities that help young people build connection and belonging in the first place.
The question shouldn’t be: How do we spend this money?
Instead: What do we want this investment to achieve for our youth?
As New Jersey determines how these resources will be invested, we should take a comprehensive approach that addresses both the immediate harms associated with social media and the underlying factors that contribute to young people’s health and well-being.
That should include mental health prevention and early intervention, digital wellness and media literacy, cyberbullying prevention, education for parents and caregivers, and access to appropriate behavioral-health services.
But our strategy should not end there.
We also need to invest in the places and programs that give young people opportunities to connect with others in person.
After-school and out-of-school-time programs, summer programs, recreation, mentoring, and community-based youth development organizations provide young people with safe and supportive environments outside of school. They offer opportunities for physical activity, friendships, leadership, civic engagement, enrichment, and relationships with caring adults. Aside from bringing enrichment to our children, these programs also allow parents to participate in the workforce and maintain jobs and employment.
If we are concerned about young people spending too much time connected to screens, we also need to create meaningful opportunities for them to connect to people, activities, and their communities.
Schools and behavioral-health providers are critical partners, but prevention requires creating long-lasting environments for connection. Community-based organizations, like the Y’s, offer meaningful mentorship, engaging activities, physical activity, and opportunities to build friendships and social networks. Together these opportunities create community and a sense of belonging.
As New Jersey establishes funding priorities for these settlement dollars, out-of-school-time, and community-based youth organizations, like ours, should be considered as partners and funding recipients.
Investments should support evidence-informed approaches to social-emotional development, youth mental health prevention, mentoring, digital wellness, cyberbullying prevention, physical activity, youth leadership, parent and caregiver education, and programs designed to reduce isolation and strengthen a young person’s sense of connection and belonging.
Young people should also have a voice in this process because they understand how social media has affected friendships, communication, school, identity, and belonging. Accountability must also be central to this investment. As we’ve seen from reports, settlement funds can be misused, and we cannot waste this opportunity.
With more than $500 million expected to come to New Jersey, there should be clear eligibility standards, transparent funding decisions, measurable outcomes, and public reporting on how the money is used. Success should be measured not only by dollars distributed or the number of programs funded, but by whether investments improve youth well-being and address the harms these resources are intended to remedy. This is why the state should stand up as a vehicle for appropriating funds that ensures we are investing directly in our children.
New Jersey is already taking steps to better understand the relationship between social media and youth’s well-being. The settlement provides an opportunity to build upon that work by translating research and policy into meaningful prevention and action in communities throughout the state.
This should not simply be about getting young people off their phones — it should be about giving them more reasons to put their phones down.
These dollars should be invested with purpose — not simply spent.
Julie Gallanty is the CEO of the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance.
