Work has begun on the first phase of Coconino County's new plan. Youth Behavioral Health Project after the Board of Supervisors decided late last year to bring it forward.
This project is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act and provides pre-emptive behavioral health care to youth. Services include emotional, physical and social support for children aged 12 to her 18 years.
The project uses a youth-led model that prioritizes connecting teens with peers who can help.
“Anyone who works with youth knows that young people need trusted adults in their lives, and the first people they turn to for support are their peers,” Coconino County Health and Human Services Department Manager Erica Shaw said. service. “We know that’s a reality and we want to make sure that’s part of how we deliver services.”
Through focus groups and outreach work with youth over the past few years, the county has identified the need for a safe place for children to learn about all aspects of mental health and develop skills to help both themselves and their peers. I have been asked repeatedly about sex. Multiple programs launched and running around the world are already showing how impactful these places can be, Shaw said.
With board approval, the county Department of Health and Human Services will move forward with final planning and construction of a youth behavioral health resource facility in Flagstaff, with a goal of opening in 2025. The department will also begin planning services in out-of-state communities. Counties include Page, Williams, Tusayan, and Fredonia.
“By building this center, we are responding directly to the needs we have heard from young people and giving them an opportunity to come in and receive support, potentially join youth groups and connect with their peers. “We also create a space where they can have access to a safe place and care providers while being referred to a long-term care manager,” Shaw said.
Shaw said that when expanding from a central facility in Flagstaff, the program will rely heavily on community engagement and partnerships with existing service providers to tailor key aspects of the project to each community's specific needs and limitations. He said it would be customized.
“We never want to start something that can't be sustained in a rural community,” Shaw said.
Overall, this project aims to fill a critical need for mental health resources in northern Arizona.
One study found that from 2010 to 2016, Coconino County had a higher suicide death rate than the rest of Arizona and the nation. 2017 report. The report found, based on the most recent data available, that on average, one Coconino County resident commits suicide every two weeks. The report also found that LGBTQ+ youth are at the highest risk of suicide among teens, with 60% feeling sad or hopeless every day, compared to 26% of the rest of the teens surveyed. It also indicated that it was reported.
Most of the county Areas with a shortage of medical workers For mental health care. Shaw said this is “a formal way of communicating that we know there are not enough behavioral health providers in the county based on population.”
Shaw said the community is feeling the shortfall primarily in the form of longer wait times, especially for appointments with specialists and youth behavioral health providers. She said many patients end up being referred to out-of-town services, most in the Valley.
“We have great providers in the region, but we don't always have enough talent, so[we're]looking at this niche where we need to provide young people with that space and that instant connection. “We're trying to find a match that will make sure that their parents are supported and that they are supported and that they get the long-term care that they need,” Shaw said.
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