Community support fuels a continuum of pediatric behavioral health services

Access to quality mental health care is critical for children in our communities. Last year, Mary Bridge Children’s Emergency Department treated 1,375 children and teens who reported behavioral health as their chief complaint.

Expanding access to mental health services — including breaking down barriers and stigma around this type of care — is a priority for Mary Bridge Children’s and MultiCare.

In 2018, Mary Bridge Children’s spearheaded the establishment of Kids’ Mental Health Pierce County (KMHPC), an award-winning and donor-funded collaborative whose goal is to work with community organizations to collectively identify and address needs and gaps in pediatric mental health services across the county.

“One system alone is not going to be able to meet all the needs of our families and communities because they’re varied and complex,” says Ashley Mangum, MSW, program manager at KMHPC. “We believe in a collaborative, cross-system approach to addressing mental health needs, and we try to develop a structure where we offer different level responses and care for different acuities where and when youth may need them.”

Meeting kids where they’re at with Youth Engagement Services (YES) 

KMHPC’s Youth Engagement Services (YES) program launched in Tacoma Public Schools with the help of a grant from the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to support teens’ transition from remote learning back to in-person schooling. YES follows a behavioral health intervention model with three tiers.

The first tier is behavioral health navigation, which connects students and their families to outpatient services like therapy in their community. Tier two involves a multidisciplinary team meeting with KMHPC, where experts meet to discuss a care plan for a child who may have more complex needs. The final tier provides brief therapeutic intervention for kids who need immediate assistance.

“The three-tier model is really helpful because a lot of the kids we interface with are a bit resistant to treatment,” says Kianna Carter, MSW, behavioral health navigator at KMHPC. “The 90-day therapeutic intervention is a nice segue to show them what it’s like to do therapy, meet some therapeutic goals and hopefully transition them on to a more long-term provider.”

In 2021, the YES Tacoma program helped 400 students. Thanks to community funding and the success of YES Tacoma, the program recently expanded to Sumner-Bonney Lake and Puyallup school districts. This program utilizes existing community resources, creating a cross-system safety net to ensure no child gets overlooked.

“There’s something so powerful about trying to dismantle barriers,” Kianna says. “We’re physically and emotionally meeting kids where they’re at, whether that’s at home or at a park. For me, this work fulfills a sense of purpose. I feel like I’m doing what I can to improve access to care for these teens, so they can grow up to be physically and mentally healthy adults.”

You can support Kids Mental Health Pierce County programs with a gift at any time.