‘Urgent need’: City announces $21 million for mental and behavioral health services for Boston youth

BOSTON — The city has earmarked $21 million in federal funding to address an “urgent need” for additional mental and behavioral health programs and services for city youth, the mayor said Wednesday.

The initiatives by the Boston Public Health Commission and Boston Public Schools “are part of the City’s response to the urgent need for more mental health supports for young people and to develop a larger and more diverse behavioral health workforce,” Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement.

The announcement comes as a new public mental health report shows a notable increase in Boston Public School students who are feeling persistent sadness and hopelessness, and more high schoolers who are reporting suicidal thoughts, officials said.

The new mental health initiatives, over five years, “will serve more than 50,000 students, directly impact 21 BPS schools, support more than 600 people in pursuing behavioral health careers in Boston, grow and diversify BPS’s mental health staff, and provide more than 1,000 people with behavioral health training to better serve youth and families in Boston,” officials said.

“The past several years have been difficult for all of us, and that’s especially true for our young people,” Wu said. “That’s why it is so important for us to make life saving investments now, to support Boston families and make sure our youth get the high-quality care they need.”

According to the Boston Public Health Commission’s newly-released Health of Boston Mental Health Report, there has been a significant increase of sadness, hopelessness and anxiety among Boston’s youth, especially youth of color.

Currently, more than 40 percent of BPS students report feeling persistent sadness and hopelessness, an increase from 27 percent in 2015, the report found.

“An increasing number of our high school students are reporting suicidal thought,” according to the report. “These data are even more severe for students that are marginalized or identify as female or LGBTQ+. Unfortunately, less than half of BPS high school students report that they received help when they experienced mental health challenges.”

“Our young people are in crisis, and it is clear that we need to develop more mental health services, especially those that address the unique needs of Black, Latinx, Asian, LGBTQ+ and other underserved communities,” Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Commissioner of Public Health and Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said in a statement. “We created BPHC’s Center for Behavioral Health and Wellness to find meaningful and strategic ways to reduce behavioral health inequities. This partnership between Mayor Wu, BPS, and the Center demonstrates our commitment to providing culturally responsive and linguistically appropriate services to young people and their families in Boston.”

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a statement that she is “hopeful and eager to uplift our youth and families by addressing the urgent mental and behavioral health challenges they face.”

“These investments and partnerships with educational and youth-focused institutions are vital steps toward strengthening our systems of care, and in doing so, nurturing the emotional well-being and educational development of our students,” Skipper said.

The $21 million is from federal funding and grants, including the American Rescue Plan Act, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, officials said.

This funding will add behavioral health specialists to Boston Public Schools, provide behavioral health training to people and community groups who work with local youth, and invest in career training in communities of color to develop a more diverse workforce to serve youth in Boston, officials said.

“This will increase the number of diverse, highly qualified mental health staff that work in BPS while also developing the skills of the current mental health staff, creating a better pipeline to retain providers and fill vacancies,” Wu said in her statement.

In addition, a pilot program between the Boston Public Health Commission and Boston Public Schools will examine policies in the city’s schools to examine trauma, disciplinary issues, racism, stress, and other factors to create safer and more positive environments for students, officials said.

“As one of the largest providers of pediatric behavioral health services in Boston, we have seen the need for behavioral health services grow exponentially, especially in underserved communities,” Dr. Joseph Mitchell, president of Franciscan Children’s, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to receive this grant so we can continue to meet the rising needs of children and youth in Boston through our school-based and other mental health programs, train the next generation of behavioral health professionals, and create a more diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve.”

In addition to these programs and services that serve youth, a Boston Public Health Commission program will support families with Black and Latinx children under four years old in need of early childhood mental health and care, officials said.

City officials released the full breakdown of allocations of the federal funding below:

Boston Public Health Commission

• $2.5M (ARPA) - Grant to UMass Boston for “Transforming Boston Access to Mental Health” focuses on preparing diverse, youth-facing practitioners to serve Boston communities. Fellows will receive education, training, and fieldwork and commit to practicing in Boston. Across three years, 185 students will be trained to serve 1,750 clients, with over 850 being youth. To date, 39 students are enrolled and 34 youth and 44 non-youth have been served.
• $2.5M (ARPA) - Grant to Franciscan Children’s to expand the “Children’s Wellness Initiative,” which provides mental health clinicians and psychiatry services in BPS schools. The grant will enable Franciscan to expand to an additional 10 BPS sites for a total of 22 BPS sites over three years. The grant will also grow recruitment efforts and provide at least 180 people advanced training in behavioral health. To date, nine clinicians have been placed across nine schools, serving 200 BPS students.
• The additional schools are: Blackstone Elementary School; Jeremiah E. Burke High School; Joseph Lee K-8 School; Rafael Hernandez School; Dr. William W. Henderson K-12 Inclusion School; Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School; and another four schools are to be announced.
• $2.3M (ARPA) - BPHC and BPS will pilot a “Trauma-informed School System Transformation” at 10 BPS schools, reaching up to 3,500 students and 750 staff. Starting in April 2024, Flourish Agenda will use trauma-informed methodologies to examine and improve BPS policies and systems of care.
• The 10 BPS schools are: BCLA-McCormack 7-12 Pilot School; Ellis Elementary School; Excel High School; Joseph Lee K-8 School; Madison Park Technical Vocational High School; Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School; Richard J. Murphy K-8; TechBoston Academy; Dr. William W. Henderson K-12 Inclusion School; Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School
• $1.3M (ARPA) - Funds will go towards BIPOC youth-focused, public awareness campaigns and other resources, including BPHC’s Cope Code Club and creative arts projects with The Family Van.
• $1M (ARPA) - BPHC just released a RFP for vendors to provide behavioral health training for community-based organizations that serve youth of color in Boston.
• $1M (ARPA) - BPHC’s Boston Area Health Education Center helps train youth in careers in health education, particularly from BIPOC populations underrepresented in health. This funding will go towards after school and summer programs focused on behavioral health careers and will train 400 students over three years. To date, 25 students are enrolled in an afterschool program.
• $700K (ARPA) - BPHC’s “Capacity Building and Training Initiative” will provide trauma and equity training for City employees who serve youth and families. Training will reach about 600 staff over three years.
• $4M (SAMHSA) - BPHC’s “Boston Children’s Mental Health Initiative” will work with Children’s Services of Roxbury to support Black and Latinx children under four years old who are connected to the state child welfare system or BPHC family support services and in need of early social and emotional development. Over the next four years, this includes training at least 37 family partners, nurses, social workers and case workers; providing services for 275 children; screening 1,800 families for social and emotional wellness; providing more behavioral health services; and increasing awareness of early childhood mental health.

Boston Public Schools

• $5.8M (Dept. of Education) - Boston Public Schools, in partnership with UMass Boston, Boston University, Brown University, and community partners will launch “Project PROVIDE,” which prepares 200 school psychology, school counseling, and social work students to serve Boston youth over five years, serving more than 46,000 students. The goal is to increase the number of diverse, highly qualified mental health staff that work in BPS while also improving technical and supervisory skills of the current mental health workforce that works in BPS or with BPS students. This grant will enable BPS to more effectively convert trainees into employees in order to fill vacancies and support the retention of mental health providers.

For more information about behavioral health resources or other needs, call the BPS Helpline at 617-635-8873 or visit the city’s health commission website.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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