New Report Calls for Culturally Responsive Programs to Support Youth Mental Health and Well-Being

As young peo­ple nav­i­gate the tran­si­tion to adult­hood, access to youth-focused men­tal health ser­vices and sup­ports can pro­mote well-being, resilience and a sense of belong­ing to their larg­er community. 

A new report, Using Cul­ture to Pro­mote Youth Men­tal Health and Well-being: Lessons from Com­mu­ni­ty Providers, out­lines the need for ser­vices that are respon­sive to a young person’s iden­ti­ty and cul­tur­al back­ground. Fund­ed by the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, the report also offers rec­om­men­da­tions to expand ser­vice availability. 

Com­mu­ni­ty-Based Providers Sup­port Men­tal Health for All

Pro­duced by the Cen­ter for the Study of Social Pol­i­cy, the report draws on inter­views with 14 com­mu­ni­ty-based providers who sup­port youth of col­or. These orga­ni­za­tions offer a range of ser­vices — from ther­a­py to cul­tur­al activ­i­ties and edu­ca­tion — that strength­en men­tal health and pro­mote well-being. 

Providers empha­sized the impor­tance of address­ing the effects of mar­gin­al­iza­tion, harm­ful poli­cies, stig­ma and neg­a­tive expe­ri­ences with pub­lic sys­tems. They also called for a holis­tic approach that is cen­tered on the young person’s cul­tur­al val­ues and strengths, with clin­i­cal treat­ment that pro­motes pos­i­tive iden­ti­ty devel­op­ment and helps youth heal from trau­ma and con­nect to their community.

Build­ing Evi­dence for Cul­tur­al­ly Respon­sive Youth Men­tal Health Services

To under­stand what works to pro­mote youth men­tal health and well-being, the report high­lights how pro­grams work along­side young peo­ple and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to cre­ate and col­lect data that demon­strate pro­gram effectiveness. 

Accord­ing to the report, many orga­ni­za­tions empha­sized that the strongest proof of effec­tive­ness comes from young peo­ple and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers them­selves — what researchers call com­mu­ni­ty-defined evidence.

The report also urges pol­i­cy­mak­ers, sys­tem admin­is­tra­tors and oth­er fun­ders to rec­og­nize the val­ue of com­mu­ni­ty-defined evi­dence and advance solu­tions based on such evi­dence as well as empir­i­cal data when mak­ing deci­sions about effec­tive programs.

“With­out a cul­tur­al­ly appro­pri­ate and equi­table approach to eval­u­a­tion, eval­u­a­tors will be unable to prop­er­ly under­stand pro­gram effec­tive­ness and risk doing harm,” the report notes.

Exam­ples of Cul­tur­al­ly Respon­sive Men­tal Health Programs

The report high­lights two pro­grams that demon­strate cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive practices: 

• Amis­tades serves Lati­no youth in South­ern Ari­zona through five cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive pro­grams for mid­dle and high school stu­dents. Many of the young peo­ple in the com­mu­ni­ty face chal­lenges such as eco­nom­ic inse­cu­ri­ty, fam­i­ly con­flict and trau­ma relat­ed to sub­stance use and over­dos­es. Through engag­ing in Amis­tades’ pro­grams, young peo­ple report gain­ing a stronger sense of belong­ing to their cul­ture and greater resilience, which helped them nav­i­gate challenges.
• Cul­tur­al­ly Informed and Flex­i­ble Fam­i­ly-Based Treat­ment for Ado­les­cents (CIFF­TA) at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mia­mi sup­ports Lati­no youth and their fam­i­lies. The out­pa­tient ther­a­peu­tic pro­gram address­es depres­sion, anx­i­ety, self-harm, legal involve­ment, sub­stance use and chal­lenges adapt­ing to a new culture.

Pol­i­cy Rec­om­men­da­tions to Expand Access to Youth Men­tal Health Services

The report offers sev­er­al rec­om­men­da­tions to improve access to cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive men­tal health programs:

• Engage diverse young peo­ple of col­or and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to help define effec­tive sup­ports for men­tal health and well-being. 
• Col­lab­o­rate with youth, providers and researchers to iden­ti­fy cul­tur­al­ly appro­pri­ate eval­u­a­tion approaches.
• Cre­ate a pub­lic grant pro­gram to devel­op cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive pro­grams and eval­u­ate them equitably.
• Ensure access to providers of col­or so young peo­ple receive care from pro­fes­sion­als who under­stand their racial, eth­nic or lan­guage background.
• Invest in youth-focused sup­ports that are pro­vid­ed out­side of typ­i­cal clin­i­cal settings.

“Youth thrive when their iden­ti­ties are hon­ored, their expe­ri­ences are under­stood and their com­mu­ni­ties are part of the solu­tion,” said Ilene Berman, direc­tor of Casey’s Evi­dence-Based Prac­tice Group. ​“This report high­lights impor­tant find­ings from providers and pro­vides a pol­i­cy roadmap to expand access to cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive men­tal health programs.”

“Our men­tal health is deeply con­nect­ed to every ele­ment of our lives and plays a key role in our abil­i­ty to thrive in soci­ety,” said Esi Hutch­ful, senior pol­i­cy ana­lyst at the Cen­ter for the Study of Social Pol­i­cy. ​“All young peo­ple nav­i­gat­ing their tran­si­tion to adult­hood deserve access to men­tal health ser­vices and oth­er sup­ports that pro­mote a holis­tic sense of well-being. That includes fos­ter­ing resilience, a pos­i­tive sense of iden­ti­ty and belong­ing to their larg­er com­mu­ni­ty. Ser­vices that are respon­sive and affirm­ing of young people’s whole iden­ti­ties, includ­ing their cul­tur­al back­grounds, are crit­i­cal to achiev­ing these goals.” 

Learn How Pub­lic Sys­tems Can Strength­en Com­mu­ni­ty Ser­vice Providers