{"id":3812,"date":"2026-08-17T12:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3812"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:03:08","slug":"colorados-youth-mental-health-corps-improves-student-attendance-and-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3812","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s Youth Mental Health Corps improves student attendance and behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marissa Garcia can barely finish a sentence before a student stops to chat with her. She\u2019s sitting in the blue-walled wellness room in the high school wing of York International School in Thornton. The calmly lit space is decked out with pillows, fidget spinners, games and a small hygiene closet. A steady stream of backpack-laden students walks past the open room between class bells. Garcia, who has curly black hair and is wearing gold-hoop earrings, a nose ring and a hoodie, looks a lot like them.<\/p>\n

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The 24-year-old is part of the inaugural Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC), a national service initiative that places near-peer mental health navigators in middle and high schools to help support students and develop the next generation of behavioral health professionals. Colorado was one of four states to pilot the program in fall 2024. to more than 60 schools, after-school programs and a community health center across the state. The corps wrapped up its second year, having expanded to 11 states, with another five set to begin in the fall and an additional 11 in the planning stages for 2027.<\/p>\n

shows that the effort is simultaneously improving student attendance and behavioral health while helping to grow the overstrained mental health field by making it easier for young adults like Garcia to access training and start their careers.<\/p>\n

Garcia works full-time at York International School as an engagement support member. She is not a licensed therapist or counselor, but she\u2019s trained to identify mental health problems among students and provide connections and support. She regularly meets with a caseload of 27 high school students who struggle with attendance and school engagement. She\u2019s constantly receiving referrals from teachers or connecting with students who ask for a few minutes of her time. Garcia helps them access resources, such as clinical mental health support or reliable transportation to and from school, and she works with them on social-emotional skills and goal setting. Often, her role is simply to listen to what\u2019s going on in the students\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarissa, because of her young age, can really connect with students in ways that I can\u2019t as a 47-year-old,\u201d said Ben Schneider, assistant principal at the school. \u201cShe has the ability to connect with them and develop relationships and be really in their corner in a really significant way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youth mental health is considered a global crisis. Forty percent of high school students in the U.S. report feeling sad or hopeless, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 34.<\/p>\n

\u201cI struggled with mental health in high school,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI\u2019m still young. I even think it\u2019s scary talking to adults sometimes, so I get relying on someone who is more your age because they can relate more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really building out this community of care where peer support is as valued as clinicians and \u2026 really growing access to mental health resources at all levels, not just when we\u2019re talking about clinical interventions,\u201d said Fiona Yung, a program officer at the Seattle-based Schultz Family Foundation, which provides national YMHC funding.<\/p>\n

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YMHC is part of AmeriCorps, a federally managed national service organization. Most states run their own AmeriCorps commissions that set regional priorities and distribute grant funding. Serve Colorado is the Centennial State\u2019s commission. Colorado YMHC is supported by five program partners, including Colorado Youth for a Change, an education-focused nonprofit and Garcia\u2019s connection to the work. (Garcia began working at York International School through the nonprofit\u2019s Corps for a Change program the year before YMHC\u2019s launch.)<\/p>\n

But the new corps isn\u2019t just focused on serving students \u2014 it also aims to increase the number of available mental health providers and diversify the field. Garcia and other members, who receive stipends for their service, have access to free training before their first day, such as Mental Health First Aid, and cultural competency; ongoing professional development, including monthly AmeriCorps networking sessions; career coaching; and, in Colorado, college credit hours or enrollment in a behavioral health assistant credentialing program through the Colorado Community College System.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Colorado unveiled a new behavioral health credential pathway in response to a severe provider shortage. It makes it easier to develop entry-level behavioral health practitioners by helping people build their knowledge through flexible learning modules that allow them to join care teams and provide services as they learn. Those so-called microcredentials can then be stacked together and put toward a higher qualification, such as an academic degree.<\/p>\n

Between 2019 and 2022, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported a 152% rise in behavioral health job openings. The Colorado Behavioral Health Administration projected a shortage of 4,400 mental health workers in the state by this year. Most of Colorado is considered a mental health professional shortage area, meaning there aren\u2019t an adequate number of providers to serve the population.<\/p>\n

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In the program\u2019s first year, 104 Colorado YMHC members completed their service term, earning 87 behavioral health associate certifications and six Master of Social Work degrees. YMHC connected with more than 7,100 students during that period, and corps members have received $600,000 in funding to use toward their student loans or further education, according to Serve Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve designed the Youth Mental Health Corps to really focus on recruiting young people that are from these communities,\u201d Yung said. The goal: They work in their local neighborhoods and continue serving those areas after their corps service terms end.<\/p>\n

Garcia is from Northglenn and graduated from Adams 12 Five Star Schools, a neighboring district to York International\u2019s Mapleton Public Schools. At the end of the 2025-26 school year, she aged out of the corps program, which employs 18- to 24-year-olds and is capped at four terms of service. She\u2019s already earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University. In the fall, she\u2019ll start her master\u2019s degree in social work at Metropolitan State University in Denver.<\/p>\n

Nationally, YMHC programs have seen improvements in student attendance and a decrease in behavioral referrals, and 20% of corps members found employment before their service year ended, according to a . Serve Colorado found that 65% of youth accessing YMHC programming \u201chave shown increases in their social-emotional learning skills or an increase in school engagement,\u201d which includes attendance, behavior and academics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s so exciting about launching the Youth Mental Health Corps is that it was so innovative. It was a way to get more mental health workers on the ground,\u201d said Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, whose office oversees the local initiative. \u201cTo have this model where it\u2019s peer-to-peer or near-peer help, I think, is really, really powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leah Ameca has benefited from that near-peer connection. Garcia initially met with the 17-year-old because of Ameca\u2019s poor attendance and slipping grades as a freshman. Ameca has attended York International since kindergarten and is now entering her senior year.<\/p>\n

Ameca struggles with depression and anxiety and said she found it hard to get to school on time for her 6 a.m. orchestra class because she was tired or just didn\u2019t feel like it. She worked with Garcia\u2013meeting at least weekly\u2014on time management and on building healthy habits, such as eating more nutritious food and drinking water. Ameca said she used to self-harm but doesn\u2019t anymore. She is now in therapy and taking medication.<\/p>\n

Garcia encouraged Ameca to ask for help and sat with her during the first semester of sophomore year when she told her parents about what was going on with her mental health. Garcia supported Ameca as she worked to find a therapist with whom she felt comfortable.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt the time, I didn\u2019t like talking about my feelings with my family. I didn\u2019t like talking about my feelings with anyone,\u201d Ameca said. \u201cI liked being independent about that. But I\u2019m very happy that I didn\u2019t stay quiet, that one day [when I disclosed my cutting], because that one day changed my life. And if it wasn\u2019t for that one day, I don\u2019t think I would be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ameca\u2019s grades and attendance have improved. She made the honor roll the second semester of her sophomore year. She calls Garcia a \u201cfriend with boundaries\u201d and finds it easier to communicate with her than with a therapist or social worker. She feels a sense of responsibility to get to class or complete her work because she knows Garcia will check in about them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really have a leader or an adult that I trusted, really,\u201d Ameca said. \u201cI clicked a lot with Marissa. \u2026 I\u2019m very grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schneider, the assistant principal, calls Garcia a first responder who \u201ccan act as a filter (who) either redirects students back into class with some quick supports or redirects them to deeper mental health supports.\u201d<\/p>\n

York International School is unique in its mental well-being offerings. Not only does it have a YMHC member, but the school district also employs a social worker, therapist and case managers.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We\u2019re] working really hard to move past a simple disciplinary model where we punish kids for misbehaving in class and instead move into places where we\u2019re trying to address the root of their behavior and support them, instead of punishing them for having a hard time,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n

School staff receive training and follow a protocol for identifying and helping students who are experiencing a crisis or need extra support. Students can be sent to the wellness space to touch base with Garcia or another mental health provider or staffer if they\u2019re having a tough time in class, or, more often, they seek out the calm environment on their own. Garcia typically starts her morning in the room and will sometimes spend her entire day engaging in spontaneous conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people want to open up to someone who\u2019s their peer, communicating in language they understand. The social norms are the same. All those pieces are so simple and also can\u2019t be understated,\u201d said Mary Zanotti, executive director of Colorado Youth for a Change, one of the five organizations involved with the YMHC in Colorado. \u201cWhen they see someone from the same culture and background advocating for (mental health), it makes a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent \u201cDevelopmental Assets Profile\u201d survey of 775 students, which Colorado Youth for a Change compiled, showed that 91% of respondents served by Youth Mental Health Corps members reported improved school engagement and a positive sense of identity.<\/p>\n

While chronic absenteeism remains a problem at York International School and across Colorado schools, the Thornton institution\u2019s 25.8% rate is below the district and state averages (35.6% and 28.4%, respectively). Schneider says Garcia\u2019s role has put a dent in that issue and has had a positive effect at the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our students are safer because Marissa is here,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cWe see students \u2026 coming here to seek support, whereas before, there wasn\u2019t anywhere to go. There\u2019s no data on how many crises we\u2019ve averted or how many suicides we\u2019ve averted. But I\u2019d like to think there\u2019s some that we\u2019ve headed off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a role that we\u2019d be able to fill ourselves,\u201d Schneider added.<\/p>\n

AmeriCorps, the Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest fund the national effort, with support from individuals and philanthropic groups. Colorado\u2019s program also receives state-based aid and other grants. Schools pay a host fee if they\u2019re able. According to Zanotti, it costs approximately $38,000 per AmeriCorps tutor, with the federal funding covering less than half. In Colorado, members like Garcia make just over $25,000 for their 1,200-hour service term.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really happy with the success of the program,\u201d Primavera said. \u201cI think there\u2019s a possibility that it\u2019ll lower long-term spending in juvenile justice and child welfare and Medicaid and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April 2025, the Trump administration stopped close to $400 million in grants to AmeriCorps, though that decision was later overturned in court following a lawsuit brought by Colorado and other states. The Colorado General Assembly partially funded for YMHC funding at $750,000, ensuring that YMHC will continue in the fall.<\/p>\n

Throughout the final months of the school year, Garcia was available to students every day. She often notices signs of depression, hopelessness and lack of motivation among students, she said. They talk about relationships and the toxicity of social media. Many want support but aren\u2019t sure where to find it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMental health can be a hard topic, especially with the population here at York. A lot of them are very cultural, and so we have different views of mental health,\u201d she said. (The school population is majority Hispanic\/Latino and economically disadvantaged.) \u201cI think my job is to just continue to educate the students about facts on mental health and what is real and validate their feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a narrative she\u2019s familiar with, having grown up in a Hispanic family that, she said, \u201ctiptoed around the subject\u201d of mental health. She blames a lack of information and education\u2013both of which she is trying to counter with her career choice. Garcia\u2019s increased knowledge has helped improve her own family dynamic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some pretty dark times, especially through high school. I understand firsthand how it feels to not want to wake up the next morning,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cThat\u2019s something I really push for with the kids I work with\u2013helping them understand that this is just one little piece of your life. High school is not how the rest of your life is going to look. There\u2019s so much more out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freelance journalist Daliah Singer wrote this story for Collective Colorado, a publication of The Colorado Trust. It first appeared at collective.coloradotrust.org and it can be read in Spanish at collective.coloradotrust.org\/es. The Colorado Trust is a philanthropic foundation that works on health equity issues statewide.<\/em><\/p>\n

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