Coconino County youth behavioral health project OK’d
Work has begun on the first phases of Coconino County’s new Youth Behavioral Health Project after the Board of Supervisors decided to move it forward at the end of last year.
Funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, the project will offer preemptive behavioral health care for youth. Services include emotional, physical and social support for kids between 12 and 18 years old.
The project will use a youth-led model that prioritizes connecting teens with their peers for help.
“Anyone who works with young people knows that young people need trusted adults in their life, but the first person a young person is going to turn to is a peer for support,” said Erica Shaw, a division manager with Coconino County
Health and Human Services. “Knowing that that’s the reality, we want to make sure that we make that be a part of how we deliver services.”
Through focus groups and outreach with youth over the past few years, the county repeatedly heard about the need for a safe location for kids to learn more about all aspects of mental health and gain skills to help both themselves and their friends. Multiple programs that are up and running around the world have already shown how impactful these places can be, Shaw said.
With the board’s approval, the county’s Health and Human Services agency will continue with the final planning and construction of a youth behavioral health resource facility in Flagstaff, with the goal of opening in 2025. The agency also will begin planning for services in outlying communities in the county, including Page, Williams, Tusayan and Fredonia.
“By building this center, we are meeting the needs directly that have been communicated to us by our young people and then also creating a space where young people can come in and receive support, participate potentially in youth groups, or connect with other peers and have this immediate access to a safe place while they’re being referred to a longer-term care manager and access to a treatment provider,” Shaw said.
When branching out of the central facility in Flagstaff, Shaw said the program will rely heavily on community engagement and partnerships with existing service providers. “We never want to start something that we can’t sustain in rural communities,” Shaw said.
Overall, the project aims to fill a critical need for mental health resources in northern Arizona. From 2010 to 2016, Coconino County had higher rates of death by suicide than both the rest of Arizona and nationwide, according to a 2017 report. Based on the most recent data available, the report found one Coconino County resident commits suicide every two weeks on average. The report also showed LGBTQ+ youth are at the highest risk for suicide among teens, with 60% reporting feeling sad or hopeless every day compared with 26% of the rest of the teens surveyed.
Much of the county is identified as a Health Professional Shortage Area for mental health care. Shaw said that “is a formal way of saying that we know there are not enough behavioral health providers in our county based on the population that we have.”