The millage helps Washtenaw County respond to the youth mental health crisis. In 2022, the millage committed more than $2.3 million dollars over three years to fund prevention, early intervention, and treatment in area schools.
Thanks to a millage partnership, Doctors Thomas Atkins, Andrea Mobilio, and Kelly Hammill—child and adolescent psychiatric professionals who work for Washtenaw County Community Mental Health—provide psychiatric care to both Ozone House and Corner Health Center youth.
The millage-funded psychiatrist at Ozone House, for example, spends a half day each week helping Ozone's young clients who might not otherwise receive needed care. Dr. Mobilio speaks with youth, gets to know their needs, provides behavioral health prescriptions when needed, and coordinates with their therapists.
Millage funds help Ozone House youth with housing and supportive services
In 2022, the millage committed to funding an additional wraparound coordinator to meet the needs of Washtenaw County's children and families. Jessy K. Pérez, pictured here, helps families find, and connect with, the services they need and are qualified for.
“I have a background working individually with families and as a case manager and social worker," says Perez. "I have worked with refugees and other people who are learning a new system in the U.S., so it’s natural for me to talk to a family and explain systems, help them access them, and support them in receiving the help that’s available in the community."
Washtenaw County Community Mental Health hires new youth and families wraparound facilitator
In 2022, the Millage Advisory Committee approved $2.3 million over three years for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) to respond to rising mental health needs among students. WISD's plans address service gaps identified during a recent evaluation of the county’s youth mental health system.
WISD’s millage-funded activities will touch all district students through universal prevention activities like mindfulness training, early intervention activities like Handle with Care, and referral services like crisis coordination between the schools and local youth service organizations like Ozone House, the Corner Health Center, and more.
$2.3 million awarded to fill gaps in youth mental health care
In 2019, Washtenaw County leaders began talking about the need for a way to connect justice-involved youth–and youth at risk of justice involvement–with needed community services. With this preventive model, youth are screened by trained staff to determine whether they really need to be in the criminal justice system, or if they would be better served by mental health care, substance use recovery treatment, etc.
In 2022, the millage funded a national organization with deep expertise in the model to provide technical assistance to Washtenaw County leaders. The goal? To determine whether and how the model might work for area youth. Discussions are now focused on educating policymakers and funders about the advantages of this preventive approach and the steps needed to put it in place.
Washtenaw County explores the prospect of a youth assessment center
The Voices of Youth program provides paid journalism opportunities to area youth. The goal? To lift up youth perspectives. Youth choose topics that are important to them–gun violence, mental health, racism–and work with journalists, editors, and mentors to refine their own articles, poems, posts, and more.
Along the way, youth gain professional experience, connect with community leaders, and share their experiences, concerns, and ideas with the community to educate and inspire change.
The millage is one of the funders of Concentrate’s Voices of Youth program.
Concentrate to launch program spotlighting youth perspectives on Washtenaw County
The Student Advocacy Center (SAC) supports students experiencing difficulties in school, including students with mental and behavioral health needs, students involved with the juvenile justice system, and students who frequently miss school or struggle with their grades. Millage funding has expanded two of SAC’s programs in Washtenaw County:
Check and Connect is an evidence-based mentorship program with personalized support. Students in Check and Connect improved or maintained emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric health–often in the midst of challenging life circumstances.
Education Advocacy guides students and families as they navigate complex school systems. Students enrolled in the Education Advocacy program increased attendance, improved grades, and decreased disciplinary incidents at school.
With millage support, Student Advocacy Center helps local youth navigate their education
Grant 31N makes funding available to Michigan schools to provide mental health services for general education students–students without identified special needs. This service has helped many students contend with the mental health impacts of social isolation during the pandemic. The grant requires partial fund matching, which the millage is providing for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD).
The grant now funds 3.25 full-time social workers in six districts that need additional support.
School social workers provide individual and group therapy for loss, depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide prevention, and more, with the goal of solving challenging in-class behavior and teaching coping skills. In addition, social workers make referrals to community based case management, counseling, crisis intervention, group therapy, and psychotherapy.
A tsunami of need: the millage provides social workers to support youth in schools
Since 2019, the millage has funded dozens of school mental health programs through mini-grants–up to $5,000 each–for Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) middle and high schools. Each school’s program is unique, and often led by the students themselves. In addition to reducing stigma, every program focuses on increasing awareness of the 24/7 CARES number.
Projects have included a mental health library led by the Peer-to-Peer students at Clague Middle School, mental health care kits sent to students at the Washtenaw Alliance for Virtual Education, a "Your Story Matters" campaign at Milan High School (pictured), and more.
The Millage Advisory Committee has approved funding the mini-grants through 2023.
Millage mini-grants are normalizing conversations about mental health in Washtenaw County schools
Teen Turn Challenge is a faith-based program in Ypsilanti designed to support men at risk of criminal justice involvement.
The program is hosted by the Restore World Church and serves zip codes: 48197, 48198, 48160, and 48111.
In 2022, the young men involved in Teen Turn Challenge canoed down the Huron River, explored the social and emotional repercussions of social media, volunteered at food pantries, and much more.
Community Leadership Revolution (CLR) Academy is a free summer program for K-8 youth who reside in neighborhoods with common barriers to healthy living—a lack of transportation or healthy foods, or a history of gun violence.
CLR Academy provides outdoor sports programming through a partnership with Washtenaw County My Brother’s Keeper (WMBK), a community collaborative that supports the education and growth of young men of color, and AFC Ann Arbor, a local soccer club that also focuses on community-building and impact.
In 2022, with millage funding, CLR Academy launched four new summer academy sites: Carrot Way, Pauline Apartments, Ypsilanti Southside, and Willow Run. They also launched two new after school programs in 2022 in Ford Early Elementary and Estabrook.
CLR Academy–a sports-focused, leadership program for K-8 youth–expands with millage funding
