YouthWell

There was no doubt that top staff at the nonprofit YouthWell would show up at the sold-out Arlington Theatre last week to hear social psychologist Jonathan Haidt talk about The Anxious Generation, his new book that examines why, after more than a decade of stability and improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s across the country and around the developed world. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Haidt lays the blame on what he calls the mass migration of childhood into the virtual world, aka the smart phone in which screen time has largely replaced face-to-face relationships. 

YouthWell was there because the nonprofit’s reason for being is to make it easier and more efficient for youth ages 5-25, and their families, to learn about and access mental health resources before issues rise to the level of severe depression and thoughts of self-harm. The organization works in collaboration on youth mental health challenges and early intervention on several fronts, starting with eliminating the stigma around seeking help through education, providing tools and tips for managing mental wellness, and practicing self-care to build resilience. YouthWell also puts its energy toward simplifying access and directly connecting young people and their caregivers to mental health resources before a crisis hits. Its larger goal is building towards systemic change that encourages collaboration to fill gaps in, and remove barriers to, needed services.

“We have to change the narrative and eliminate the stigma,” said Rachael Steidl, YouthWell Executive Director, who founded the organization nine years ago after her daughter struggled with getting help for her own depression and anxiety. “The more people who have an understanding and feel more comfortable talking about mental health, the better. And honestly, we want people to be proud of reaching out for therapy.” 

But that’s only the first step. Access can be a big challenge for those who are open to help, but don’t necessarily show up as being at risk. When YouthWell began, Steidl realized that services from the County Behavioral Wellness department didn’t kick in for a lot of those in need. 

“The County is set up to address mostly adults who are on Medi-Cal who are diagnosed with moderate to severe mental health issues. They don’t address those who have insurance, or those that are mild to moderate. And while that’s frustrating, it helped me to realize that this is where we need to focus our efforts.” 

Students have run into similar issues, she said. 

“We hear that a lot, that when they try to ask for support, they are told they’re not ill enough, that their problems are not severe enough. Somebody shouldn’t have to be in bad shape before they’re able to get support.” 

YouthWell put a lot of attention on learning about the current situation in its early days and supporting existing structures and organizations to help young folks up to age 25. 

“The base of everything we do is collaborative work and systems change,” Steidl said. “Our focus is early intervention and prevention, and we work with all the providers in our community, countywide, the school districts, law enforcement, and the medical community with the goal of making it easier for young people and their families to access resources in a more timely manner… We are conveners. We are constantly bringing people together to have more in-depth conversations, to better understand the challenges, because the only way you can tackle these things is to understand why things exist the way they do.” 

Among the insights YouthWell gleaned was that many families cannot easily access mental health support because of the hours that therapists and other providers work.

“Most of the resources are 9-5, Monday through Friday. But most people work those hours, so to meet them where they are, we might need to start offering evenings and weekends. If that’s what’s going to be best for the families that we’re trying to serve, we need to look at that.” 

Another issue is the misconception that it’s easier for young people whose families have health insurance to have access to care, Steidl said. 

“It’s a big unmet need in our community because most of the resources are aimed at those on Medi-Cal, which is fantastic. But many organizations and a lot of private therapists don’t take insurance. Many families who have insurance do not have the ability to pay out of pocket for those services.”

To combat those issues, YouthWell launched a two-year pilot program with Cottage Health creating a Family Care Coordination Center to help students with mild to moderate mental health needs and their families navigate the mental health system and ensure they receive services in a timely manner creating a continuity of care.

“We come alongside these families who’ve been referred to us, get them access to services quickly,” Steidl said. “We get them help early versus bouncing around between providers or being on waiting lists while their issues get worse. It’s been amazing.” 

Other aspects of YouthWell’s program also work to fill in the gaps that support the work of its partners, including providing ongoing free support groups for parents, teachers and teens to learn healthy coping strategies for managing stress. The organization also offers regular wellness workshops, as well as a Mental Health First Aid certification course that teaches family and friends to recognize and respond to mental health and substance abuse challenges.

“QPR training (Question, Persuade, Refer) is very much like CPR training where you help somebody who might be having a heart attack,” Steidl explained. “The same idea applies to supporting someone who might be having a mental health challenge or even be suicidal. People can be very uncomfortable to step into those conversations, and we want to encourage more comfort by starting with active listening, just showing that you care, and knowing how to get them to services and support.”

YouthWell also maintains a mental health resource directory that runs the gamut in referrals – everything from wellness to crisis in both the nonprofit and the private sector. It is the only one of its kind in the county, and offers a Youth Advocacy Board comprised of students from schools all over the county. 

It’s all about coming up with solutions that start with listening, which circles back to Steidl and other staffers attending the talk by Haidt. 

“More than anything, we are just really passionate about and pride ourselves in listening to understand the challenges, not just to parents and youth, but to all of our organizations, our schools,” Steidl said. “That’s how change happens.”