Springfield Youth Mental Health Coalition

The Springfield Youth Mental Health Coalition is convened by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts. The Coalition consists of behavioral health and youth-serving organizations serving youth and families across Greater Springfield. We are led by our outstanding Youth Leaders, known as Beat the Odds (BTO), Forget the Statistics - a name they branded themselves!


In 2019 we began a year long process with an Advisory Board to identify a health problem made worse by the presence of a casino in Springfield, MA. To help narrow from fifteen potential topics to one, we gathered diverse community voices, input from content experts, and data from existing community health needs assessments. This process identified youth behavioral health as the biggest priority.


With help from our BTO Youth Leaders, we adopted the following strategies:

Coalition Building

YMHC PREVENTATIVE STRATEGIES 

  • Mental Health Awareness

    In 2023, the YMHC launched a mental health campaign that exemplifies that we are more than our mood, much more than what meets the surface, and that it's okay to explore our underlying feelings of stress, anxiety and depression.


    The campaign includes a website with mental health resources for youth, caregivers, and adult supporters. 

    Learn more

  • Professional Development and Community Education

    The YMHC offers professional development to professionals working with youth to educate about youth mental health from a cultural and social justice perspective. The coalition also offers community education open to all Springfield residents and organizations to build awareness around stress, anxiety and depression and how to identify symptoms in themselves and loved ones.  

    View Training Opportunities

  • Problem Gambling Prevention

    Stay tuned for more information!

YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH COALITION

  • Parents and guardians
  • Beat the Odds youth
  • AmeriCorps: Springfield College 
  • AmeriCorps: DIAL/SELF Youth and Community Services 
  • Baystate Health
  • Behavioral Health Network
  • Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Western MA
  • Follow my Steps 
  • Gándara's Impact Center
  • Girls, Inc. of the Valley 
  • MassMentoring Partnership 
  • New North Citizens Council
  • Springfield Public Schools 
  • Springfield Office of Health and Racial Equity
  • Tools for Success Counseling 
  • Trust Transfer Project 

  • Beat the Odds Youth Leadership Program

    • Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services
    • South End Community Center
    • New North Citizens Council

  • Professional Development and Community Education

    • African Diaspora Mental Health Association
    • Behavioral Health Network
    • Tools for Success

OUR FUNDERS

Thank you for supporting this important work in Springfield! 

For the Youth Mental Health Coalition initiatives including Youth Advisors, Peer Mentoring and Professional Development:

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Office of Problem Gambling Services


For the Communications Campaign:

  • Davis Foundation
  • Trinity Health of New England
  • Whitcomb Foundation
  • Women's Fund of Western MA
  • City of Springfield 

Reports