Marissa Garcia can barely finish a sentence before a student stops to chat with her. She’s sitting in the blue-walled wellness room in the high school wing of York International School in Thornton. The calmly lit space is decked out with pillows, fidget spinners, games and a small hygiene closet. A steady stream of backpack-laden students walks past the open room between class bells. Garcia, who has curly black hair and is wearing gold-hoop earrings, a nose ring and a hoodie, looks a lot like them.
The 24-year-old is part of the inaugural Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC), a national service initiative that places near-peer mental health navigators in middle and high schools to help support students and develop the next generation of behavioral health professionals. Colorado was one of four states to pilot the program in fall 2024. One hundred and forty-four corps members were deployed to more than 60 schools, after-school programs and a community health center across the state. The corps wrapped up its second year, having expanded to 11 states, with another five set to begin in the fall and an additional 11 in the planning stages for 2027.
Data collected after the first full year show that the effort is simultaneously improving student attendance and behavioral health while helping to grow the overstrained mental health field by making it easier for young adults like Garcia to access training and start their careers…