Our Work in Mental Health

“I’m proud that I have learned more skills to be better connected to my family” - Youth in Friends of the Children

Putting Children First Every Day

In May we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month. For nearly 30 years, our professional mentoring model has specialized in serving children and families who have experienced significant adversity and face systemic obstacles – including barriers to accessing mental health supports.

Love, support, and belonging are critical to mental health and wellbeing. Our paid, professional mentors – Friends – do that and more for the youth in our program: providing stability, consistency, and intention around emotional, behavioral, and mental health support.

More than just the month of May, supporting children’s mental health is at the heart of Friends of the Children’s work every month, every week, and every day of the year.

Supporting Mental Health

The Friends of the Children model improves the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of youth in our program. Our paid, professional mentors are equipped to:

• IMPROVE ACCESS and reduce barriers to mental health services by destigmatizing mental health care, making direct connections to culturally-responsive providers, and providing transportation.
• INCREASE ENGAGEMENT in mental health services by practicing skills outside the therapeutic context – at home, at school, and in the community – and supporting caregivers to do the same.
• EXPAND CAPACITY by working with clinicians to provide trauma-informed, evidence-based mental health interventions that meet the needs of youth who might not otherwise access counseling or therapeutic supports.

Mental Health Awareness Month

This month Friends of the Children will be sharing stories that show how important it is to support the mental health of youth. To spotlight Mental Health Awareness, we will also be using #MentalHealthMatters and #PutChildrenFirst hashtags on social media. We invite you to join the conversation and to sign up to receive our monthly Friends - National newsletter.