Among wellness centers at every school campus, mandatory social emotional learning curriculum and multiple city teen centers, Palo Alto students don’t have to look far to find mental health resources. But allcove Palo Alto, designed and operated by youth, feels a little different.
Local youth picked out the pillows and the floor plans, which are designed to feel more casual and less sterile. It offers free mental and physical health care, peer support and substance use counseling, as well as career coaching services that were described as more accessible than a crisis hotline. It’s a space youth can retreat to without the permission of their parents.
And last year, it was on the chopping block, as the county buckled under federal funding cuts and struggled to maintain full support for behavioral health services. After residents advocated for months to sustain the resource in its full capacity, Santa Clara County agreed to reduce funding for allcove as mental health advocates rushed to find a new model to pay for the center…