Years ago, when I was a member of the Palo Alto School Board, I asked teachers what the hardest aspects of their jobs were. I was surprised by how many told me that it wasn’t the teaching that was difficult, but all the additional responsibilities they had to take on: nurse, therapist, social worker, and more.
The problem is that teachers are not pediatric nurses or counselors. And they are certainly not mental health professionals. We need to recognize that, even if we want our schools to help keep our children mentally healthy.
As chair of our county’s Health and Hospitals Committee, I recognize how important county programs and services can be to the well-being of young people. I hope that families in the communities I represent in the 5th District take advantage of the programs available to them.
In Palo Alto, allcove is an integrated physical and mental health care facility for young people. Alarmed by the mental health crisis facing youth in the county at the time, I championed the program in 2016 and proposed our county’s support and exemplary cooperation.
Allcove was developed by and with young people and aims to reach adolescents and young adults who are struggling long before they reach a crisis. The idea is that anyone between the ages of 12 and 25 can come to an Allcove centre and receive mental health support, primary care, addiction support and peer support.
The nonprofit Youth Community Service (YCS) offers a program called Youth Connect that focuses on teen mental health and suicide prevention. The program helps young people build positive relationships and partner with other youth organizations and adult supporters to conduct service projects and creative activities that amplify youth voices. I advocated for county support for Youth Connect in 2018 and again in 2022 because I see the program as a unique model that brings services directly to children.
Our district also has an obligation to provide for those who urgently need help. To do this, we must have facilities here in our district for young people who are in a life crisis.
I became aware of this need nearly a decade ago when a constituent approached me at a Christmas party and asked, “Why are there no hospital beds for children and adolescents suffering from mental health crises here in Santa Clara County?” I soon learned that each year hundreds of young people were transferred from our county’s emergency rooms to hospitals as far away as Sacramento for acute mental health care.
Less than six months later, I proposed that we build an acute care unit for youth in crisis in Santa Clara County. Since then, I have led efforts to expand the county’s youth-focused mental health services to include inpatient treatment.
We want to encourage, not discourage, children and families from seeking the help they need. These children benefit therapeutically from being close to their community in times of crisis, including family members and local mental health professionals.
After much hard work and too many painful delays, construction is now halfway complete and we look forward to opening Santa Clara County’s first inpatient psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. The project is scheduled to be completed and open to patients in San Jose by the end of 2025.
The state-of-the-art facility will provide inpatient hospital treatment as well as emergency and outpatient mental health services for children, adolescents and adults. The 19,500-square-foot facility will be part of a new mental health center and will feature age-appropriate amenities, including indoor and outdoor therapeutic environments that allow for continuous treatment in a single setting.
This project has been a long time coming, but it is immensely satisfying to know that our county will soon be able to provide local support to young people struggling with mental health issues. Given the need, we cannot get it done quickly enough.
Teens are under increasing pressure and stress and need the support of trusted adults in their lives. Fortunately, help is available through various rural programs and resources. We can and should do more to help the young people in our communities stay healthy and thrive.
These resources include:
allcove Palo Alto, https://allcove.org/centers/palo-alto or 650-798-6330;
Youth Community Service, https://youthcommunityservice.org or 650-858-8019; and
Behavioral Health Services of Santa Clara County, https://bhsd.santaclaracounty.gov/services-group/children-youth-and-family or 800-704-0900.
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