Youth Mental Health Corps
The Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) is a collaborative initiative that supports youth mental health in schools and communities while giving young adults on-ramps into behavioral health careers. Led by the Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest, YMHC is designed to scale nationally, leveraging cross-sector collaboration to maximize impact.
The YMHC operates in partnership with state service commissions, host organizations, and local leaders to ensure the program is community-driven and responsive to regional needs while strengthening state and local behavioral health infrastructure.
In addition to New York, 10 other states are currently operating YMHC programs: California, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregan, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Seven additional states are planning to launch programs in 2026: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, and Washington.
The New York Youth Mental Health Corps
The New York Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) provides a service-to-career pathway for young adults (18-29) with lived experience who serve at participating AmeriCorps New York programs providing peer-to-peer mental health support services while earning a Youth Peer Advocate (YPA) Credential.
Year One:
The New York YMHC currently includes two programs:
- Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties (MHACG)
- New York YMHC members serving with MHACG's Hudson PROMISE Corps Plus provide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) workshops focused on mental wellness, substance use disorder prevention, communication and advocacy skills training in a restorative, non-clinical environment for young people whose lives have been disrupted by addiction.
- Contact:
- Eric Bell, Program Director
- [email protected]
- City of Rochester
- New York YMHC members serving with the City of Rochester's Flower City AmeriCorps program provide peer-to-peer mental health support services at nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing a holistic approach to tutoring and mentoring for K-12 students in the Greater Rochester Area.
- Contact:
- NiJay Harris, Program Director
- NiJay.Harris-Henry@CityofRochester.Gov
New York Youth Mental Health Corps Forum
On Wednesday, January 22, 2025, the Commission hosted the New York Youth Mental Health Corps Forum to bring together community stakeholders and interested organizations for a day of formative discussions around the potential for this exciting new initiative to help them build the next generation of mental health professionals.