The Youth Mental Health Corps, a national collaborative initiative that addresses a growing health crisis, launched its Maryland program this fall.
The program is preparing the next generation of behavioral health professionals with real-world experience while providing services to younger clients. Through the initiative, young adults ages 18 to 24 serve as peer mental-health mentors, known as “members,” to middle and high school students in schools, health centers, and other community-based organizations.
The initiative was founded in 2023 by the Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest, responding to concerns surrounding youth mental health and the impact of social media and technology. Since its founding, funders like The Starbucks Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, Mae Philanthropies and dreammachine.org have also joined.
Today, the program is serving youth across 165 community sites in 11 states. In 2025, the initiative will expand to seven more states.
“What we’re really looking for is to go and be able to support youth and students where they are–in schools, community-based organizations, and be able to provide a near-peer mental health navigator for them,” said Fiona Yung, program officer at Schultz Family Foundation.
Yung said the initiative is designed in collaboration with individual states to address unique needs. While Maryland is currently in the recruitment stage of the program, the Maryland Department of Service and Civic Innovation is working closely with schools and health and youth organizations to further the program.
“We want to be sure that we’re really empowering states and the state service commissions to really identify what the community needs are,” Yung said. “They’re really our partners, building this out, designing it, and they are the ones that are truly ensuring that this is something that is community led.”
A major objective is ensuring that corps members are trusted and trained adults that students can go to “whenever there’s any sort of issue that’s large or small.” Before serving the youth, members receive industry-recognized certifications, Yung said.
The corps also emphasizes the importance of their members being close in age to the communities they serve. In addition, members must have cultural awareness for the youth they serve.
Members serve alongside staff and often conduct one-on-ones, provide training and workshops, develop outreach campaigns, and educate students and staff on topics like healthy social media use, digital safety and well-being, and online safety.
For Josiah Sanchez, becoming a corps member meant being able to be a helpful figure that students can count on.
“Whatever they say, and whatever they think or feel, if it’s told to me in my room, it won’t leave my room,” Sanchez said. “I’m here to help them and not judge them.”
Similarly, 24-year-old corps member Marissa Garcia described the work she’s done with the program as “empowering.” Garcia has been with the organization for two years, and works at York International school in Thorton, Colorado–one of the first states to launch the program.
Garcia said she is “excited that the program is branching out of Colorado,” and is looking forward to the future.
“You can just see the struggle that a lot of these kids are going through. And it’s a helpless feeling sometimes. But just knowing that this program is expanding, it gives us a lot more hope,” Garcia said.
She said the program led her to create many strong relationships with her mentees and she enjoys seeing them want to become the best versions of themselves. Garcia believes this kind of work is crucial.
“There’s a need for this work, there really is,” she said. “I think with this position, it’s really important to understand that like, we’re not their saviors, you know? We’re not here to save them. We’re simply here to guide them,” Garcia said.
To learn more about the program, visit youthmentalhealthcorps.org.
