There are 70 Youth MOVE chapters all across the U.S. and each one is focusing on the individual needs of their own community. Today we are taking some time to highlight two of our Youth MOVE chapters that are engaging in peer support!
Youth MOVE Colorado (CO)
Youth MOVE CO is happy to be part of the Peer Center Learning Group. Our team for this learning includes both our System of Care Grant know as COACT and our Healthy Transition Grant both housed at the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health. Young adult leaders from both grants participate in our chapter and are excited to continue to leverage and link these two important efforts in our state. Youth MOVE CO is a statewide chapter that has 4 main goals:
- Youth informed program improvement and policies
- Helping created local Youth MOVE chapters in our state to increase advocacy and leadership
- Network building across systems, organizations, geographic regions within a state
- Guide Colorado’s development of the youth peer specialist workforce
This spring, Youth MOVE CO will house 7 AmeriCorps VISTA members who will be deployed throughout our state to help us accomplish our goals.
Check Out The Youth MOVE Colorado Website>>
Youth MOVE Pine Belt
Based in Hattiesburg, MS, Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources provides numerous mental health services in four main service areas: adult, child and adolescent, chemical dependency and intellectual/developmental disabilities. Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources has offices in 13 Mississippi counties and provides services from 62 locations. Services are available to residents of Covington, Forrest, Greene, Jeff Davis, Jones, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River, Perry and Wayne counties. Select services are available in Stone, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties. Across the agency, Pine Belt employs more than 800 full and part‐time staff working in a thirteen-county region.
As a grant funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Crossover Xpand aims to prioritize underserved children and youth who are involved in the child welfare/advocacy system and/or the juvenile justice system, referred to as “crossover youth”, and those at risk for becoming crossover youth. The youth will have a diagnosed serious emotional disorder (SED), co-occurring disorder (COD), or a first episode of psychosis (FEP); be between the ages of 3-21 and reside in Forrest, Jones, Lamar, and Marion counties. Crossover Xpand houses its local chapter, Youth MOVE Pine Belt. The chapter is youth-driven and focuses on providing advocacy for destigmatizing mental health for youth on the local, state, and national level. The participating youth within the chapter are 12-29 years old.
If you have any questions about the Youth MOVE Pine Belt chapter, you can contact the Youth Engagement Coordinator at [email protected] or 601-582-1111, ext. 312.