By Mylika Scatliffe
AFRO Health Writer
There is a mental health crisis among youth in the United States, and it’s escalating.
In response to the intensifying crisis, Pinterest and The Schultz Family Foundation have pioneered an innovative service initiative called The Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) to cultivate a new generation of behavioral health professionals.
On Sept. 10, the program launched its second year by expanding across 11 additional states, including Maryland. Six hundred young adults were deployed to communities with limited mental health resources to provide near-peer support.
The YMHC is designed for young adults to earn a credential or higher education credit while gaining valuable work experience by serving youth in schools, nonprofit organizations and health clinics. YMHC members bring a personal connection and motivation that uniquely positions them to work with youth, according to a recent press release.
Fiona Yung, a YMHC lead and program officer at the Schultz Family Foundation, described the three main objectives of the program during an interview with the AFRO.
“The first objective for the Youth Mental Health Corps is to put Corps members where youth are so that they can be supported around their mental health and wellness,” said Yung.
She went on to describe the other two main objectives, which are to create career pathways for young people around behavioral health or adjacent professions, especially for those without a college degree, and to cultivate a diverse pipeline of behavioral health professionals that are more aligned with diverse communities, so that in the future youth and their families can find a behavioral health professional that looks like them.
“Our hope is that in the near future young people will be able to find a behavioral health professional that looks like them and can relate to their lived experience,” Yung emphasized.
The mission of the Schultz Family Foundation is to provide greater access to opportunity for young people, especially those aged 18-24. The foundation focuses on supporting young people transitioning into adulthood and helping them find success in economically mobile career paths.
A program in its infancy, the YMHC was established in 2024. Its initial launch was across four states – Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Texas – and aimed to place young people in schools, community health organizations and out- of-school-time programs to serve as near-peer support for students, while simultaneously earning certifications and/or higher education credits.
YMHC members assess youth mental health needs, connect students with community resources and serve as trusted adults. They have a few more years of lived experience than the students they are working with but are not so far removed that they don’t remember some of the issues facing youth and young adults.
“From what we’ve seen from the program in just the first year, the power is that it’s a lot easier for students and youth to engage and build relationships with YMHC members because they bring the lived experience, proximity and cultural relevancy to the actual students themselves,” said Yung.
YMHC members are just starting out on their career journey. Through the Corps, they have an opportunity to explore the behavioral health field and work alongside behavioral health professionals in schools, after-school programs, summer programs and clinics. They receive training before being placed at sites where they learn to provide mental health first aid, de-escalation tactics and recognize when youth should be referred for more intensive interventions from clinical professionals. In addition, they develop skills to connect students and young adults with wraparound community resources for basic needs and support for themselves and their families.
Members serve in the YMHC for a period of six months to a year and continue to receive training and support both through AmeriCorps programs within their actual service sites, and the professional development through the entire course of their YMHC tenure. Their training enables better understanding of their potential career paths and helps them to map out next steps – whether it’s earning additional certificates or credentials or pursuing higher education in the behavioral health field.
“These particular certifications don’t require a college degree and allows another avenue toward a career in behavioral health,” said Yung. Certificates can be earned to become a community health worker or peer support specialist. In addition certifications can be earned to become a behavioral health assistant, behavioral health tech or a youth peer advocate.
“When a YMHC member completes their service, they earn an Education Award that they can put towards a higher education program, or they come out with experience hours toward becoming a licensed social worker, school counselor, or psychologist,” Yung said.
In the first year, the YMHC deployed 317 Corps members across 172 service sites, serving more than 16,000 young people in four states Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Texas. For the 2025-2026 school year, the Corps will be active in seven additional schools, making 11 total.
YMHC members must apply and be interviewed through AmeriCorps programs. Once they are selected they are placed at sites that align with their particular areas of interest. The program targets youth and young adults between the ages of 13 and 24 and members are paid a stipend.
“Finding young people that want to be part of the Corps hasn’t been a challenge because they truly want to be part of the solution to the mental health crisis among youth in the United States, and we want it to be youth led,” Yung said.
“We’re finding that mental health and wellness is not a taboo subject for Gen Z. They very much recognize that their mental health and wellness, and that of their friends and family, is incredibly important for their overall heath and success,” Yung concluded.
The program has garnered bipartisan support in the participating states. YMHC is in urban, suburban and rural communities. It is acknowledged across the political spectrum that mental health and wellness is an issue, regardless of socioeconomic status and geographic location.
One of the reasons for launching the YMHC is that Gen Z is so tapped into their mental health and wellness and that of their peers, much more than previous generations.
In one way or another, YMHC members want young people to be the trusted adults they didn’t have at that age.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect Pinterest as a sponsor and accurately report the total number of schools with YMCH programming.