Tess HankeyIf you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 to connect with a trained counselor.
Southwest Conservation Corps is the oldest program under the Conservation Legacy umbrella, with the organization turning 25 next year. With their longevity comes a wealth of experience working with and supporting youth and young adults in the Rocky Mountain region. In 2019, as SCC staff reflected on their organization and the things they wanted to tackle moving forward, a leading priority was the mental health of the youth and young adults in their programs.
Most people think of the Rocky Mountain region as a place of great beauty and outdoor adventure. While this is undoubtedly true, the region also reports the second highest suicide rate in the country. Eight of the ten states with the highest suicide rates in the U.S. all come from the mountain west, including Colorado. While the answer to why suicide rates are so much higher in the west is still up for debate, SCC felt they had to make a concerted effort to address the mental wellbeing of their participants within their programs.
Over the years, SCC staff have seen spikes in the number of mental health incidents occurring out in the field with their program participants. Some of these situations ranged from basic behavioral issues to situations beyond the scope of the staff and leaders in the organization. SCC also started seeing this reflected in the retention rates across the organization. They recognized that the reason many participants were leaving the program was because the organization did not have the capacity to properly take care of the youth and young adults enrolled.
SCC staff wanted to address this with a more holistic support for their members and leaders. After searching, the staff began to apply for grants that could be used to support the youth programs. One came up through the Colorado Health Foundation that specifically supported youth resiliency and mental wellness. It sounded like a fantastic fit for SCC’s goals. Both the Four Corners and Los Valles regions applied and were awarded $150,000 for two years. This grant money gave the programs the funding needed to pay for a local Mental Health Consultant (MHC) that could support the youth in the field each summer.
Youth Program Coordinator Jacob Mandell explains, “Prior to this, we had folks with pretty high needs who had therapists they were seeing and our program was interfering with them having those sessions. Having the mental health consultant was an opportunity to support them in a way that they really needed.”
Now that SCC had the funds, their next hurdle to address was: What will this consulting position look like? Since this was a brand-new role, the idea was to be adaptable and flexible based on the experience of whoever was hired. SCC was able to find two very qualified Mental Health Consultants (MHC) to help them carve out the role of this position. The consultants had backgrounds in wilderness therapy, which ultimately gave them a better understanding of what the experience is really like for members and leaders out in the field.
The MHCs started out the season building relationships with the leaders and gave them tools for handling certain situations in the field. Once the youth started their seasons, the consultant would check in with the crews based on their specific needs. It was never required of the crewmembers, but it was another resource offered to help them deal with whatever may be going on in their lives.
Mandell was thrilled with the enthusiasm from the youth programs regarding the mental health consultant. He said, “It was cool because it was really flexible and some crews like really sought out her support. She showed up quite a bit and would check in with folks routinely.”
Mandell continued, “I think the best thing was for the youth to have a person that was not their supervisor, totally unrelated to SCC, just go talk to them. Sometimes there’s friction going on and the mental health consultant was able to go talk to both parties and really get a sense of what was going on and where people were coming from. I think that the youth knew they could speak openly to her because she had no stake.”
The first season SCC employed mental health consultants, the program saw 100% retention of youth program members. They also noticed that many of their leaders from that year returned for another season. On top of this, the MHC has also been mentioned by numerous crew leader applicants as a reason they choose to work for SCC versus other similar organizations.
SCC Adult Programs adopted a Mental Health Consultant in 2022, based on the model the Youth Programs ran in 2021. They were able to adjust the position to the needs of their program and the results have been clear. Crew leaders throughout the season found the MHC to be very beneficial. They shared that the MHC helped them to feel supported and heard in the midst of a draining job, and that they appreciated having the MHC as a resource for themselves and their crew. The MHC has also helped to identify trends and themes so that programmatic changes that aim to prevent mental health crises can be made.
In 2023, SCC youth programs hope to continue building on their success working with the same MHC, who is in their third season with SCC. The adult programs are excited to bring back the same mental health consultant for the second year as well! SCC staff are passionate about spreading the word of this pilot program and presented on the MHC process and success at the Colorado Open Space Alliance. Their presentation was very well received by other organizations, not just corps. Teresa DiTore, Youth Programs Manager, remarked that “Folks from municipalities, counties and other non-profits approached SCC staff throughout the conference to share their excitement about the initiative and recognize a need for it in their own organizations.” SCC is excited to remain in touch with these organizations and hope that through their own demonstrated success it will lead other corps to adopt similar positions based on local needs.
To learn more about the Mental Health Consultant program and how you can adapt it to your organization, contact Jacob Mandell (jmandell@conservationlegacy.org) or Teresa DiTore (tditore@conservationlegacy.org).