Here4YOUth on Mental Health

The following guest column by Gulf Coast President/CEO Mark Pritchett appeared in the November 21 edition of SRQ Daily:

On a recent Friday, a distressed local high school student confided in the Student Assistance Program Specialist at her school. A friend at another school had said he intended to harm himself over the coming weekend. The SAP Specialist—a prevention and early intervention professional who provides counseling, mentoring, mediation, and other support—quickly contacted his counterpart at the student’s school, along with the school resource officer there.

They were able to find the student and talk with him about his troubles. His parents and his guidance counselor were soon informed too, and under careful watch the student safely made it through the weekend. Back at school Monday, the SAP Specialist began meeting with him regularly to assess his emotional stability and connect him to any resources he needed to keep working through his challenges. The student and his family have expressed gratitude for this intervention and support—which literally saved a life.

That’s how the system is supposed to work. But absent coordinated support like the Student Assistance Program—a relatively new innovation now in place at 10 Sarasota County schools—youth like the two in this real-life example often feel they have nowhere to turn.

That’s why Here4YOUth exists. This collaborative initiative seeks to transform the system of mental health care in Sarasota County, so that it fully meets the needs of our community’s children, youth and young adults. Here4YOUth is led by Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. But it’s really powered by more than two dozen frontline mental-health providers, as well as some of the brave youth and families who utilize their services. 

Read the rest of Mark's column in SRQ Daily