5 Mental Health Programs Making a Difference for Black Youth

By Aziah Siid, Word In Black

Getting students the support they need at school isn’t always possible, but these organizations are there to help.

Record numbers of adults are experiencing depression — more than 1 in 6 according to Gallup —  and the kids aren’t alright either. Teachers, coaches, parents, and guardians are seeing more and more students unable to concentrate in class, doing poorly on assignments, seeming more irritable than usual, or withdrawing from activities they normally enjoy. 

Indeed, the mental health crisis among Black American youth has reached emergency levels. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mental health problems among Black youth ages 10 to 24 skyrocketed nearly 37% between 2018 and 2021. 

Despite that, getting students the support they need isn’t always easy. In September, Celeste Malone, the immediate past president of the National Association of School Psychologists and associate professor of school psychology at Howard University, told Word In Black “there’s a lack of school-based mental health providers in general. But, acutely, there’s a lack of school-based mental health providers of color.”

Read about the five organizations making a difference in the full article.

The Confess Project offers struggling members of the Black community a safe space in a familiar place.

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