The Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) has announced its Year Two launch in Maryland, as well as its expansion into 16 states this year and more than half the United States by 2027. Maryland had a contingent of 35 participants in YMHC’s inaugural year.
According to Surgo Health, 45% of young people nationwide say they experience mental health challenges, including rising rates of anxiety and depression. Of those, 62% are not getting the care they need.
There is just one mental health provider for every 340 people across the nation, though, according to a 2024 study by Mental Health America. Only 27% of needs in these mental health shortage areas are being met. Communities that bear the heaviest burden are rural areas and communities of color.
In Maryland, people are showing up to address this crisis. Sarah Flammang is deputy secretary of the Department of Service and Civic Innovation. She told Baltimore Fishbowl that she sees YMHC participants as filling dual societal needs: psychological and economic.
Maryland First Lady Dawn Flythe Moore at a Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club event. Screenshot via video from Moore’s Facebook page.
“The Maryland Youth Mental Health Corps is a powerful example of how service can meet an urgent need while building our state’s workforce. In our inaugural year, 35 Members stepped up to serve in schools and community organizations across the state, providing vital near-peer support to young Marylanders,” Flammang said. “This impact was on full display last month when First Lady Moore hosted a delegation of first ladies at the Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club. During that visit, they saw firsthand how our members are providing essential social-emotional learning and mental health coaching to youth. By creating these pathways, we aren’t just expanding access to mental health resources in the short term; we are helping a new generation of diverse, community-connected professionals gain the credentials and experience they need to launch careers in behavioral health fields.”
Many participants in the Maryland chapter of YMHC find the experience not only professionally beneficial but emotionally rewarding and a fundamental part of their personal growth process.
“Coming into the program and kind of seeing the relationships that it builds and the opportunities that it’s placed in my path… have opened my eyes to see what the world of public policy can do,” said member Elijah Dyer.
Member Cori Webb described it like a “big family.”
“[I]t’s good to see other people that are like me that don’t know what’s going on, or what they should do,” Webb said. “I also enjoy the networking… you get to meet a bunch of different people, and it helps me come out of my shell.”
“The community for me, it feels like an opportunity to learn from others, it aids what you work on… getting advice from other youth members about how they deal with youth mental work in their host site,” said Maryland member Angel Vasquez. “And it pretty much helps you engage better, in a better way with students and also it helps you apply different things and try new things at your host site.”
YMHC is a national service initiative to address the worsening state of youth mental health while building the next generation of behavioral health professionals. The program was created by the Schultz Family Foundation and Pintrest, and a new investment from Ballmer Group allows YMHC to scale up its operations to more communities across the nation. Its model uses near-peer connections to train and mobilize young adults to support young people learn and grow, offering them critical mental health support along the way.
“Young people across America are facing a mental health crisis, and young adults are uniquely positioned to be part of the solution,” said Sheri Schultz, co-founder and chair of the Schultz Family Foundation. “The Youth Mental Health Corps puts that idea into action, training and paying young adults to serve as near-peer mental health supporters in schools and communities while giving them credentials, experience, and a clear path into a behavioral health career … Governors in multiple states are joining us this year showing exactly the kind of innovative political bipartisan leadership this moment demands.”
Maryland YMHC Corps Member Leah Watson says the program is valuable in more way than one.
“It creates a lot of opportunities and just the connections and the friendships that you build and the supports from my success coach and the people around me,” Watson said. “It’s something that I really love.”
Day 1 of training for new Maryland Youth Mental Health Corps members from last year. Photo credit: Maryland YMHC.
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