Center for Youth Mental Illness in Schools

Building stronger systems of care for children, youth, and families.

About:

A systems-focused nonprofit advancing youth wellbeing.

The Center for Youth Mental Illness in Schools is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the systems that support children, youth, and families.

We work at the intersection of education, child welfare, mental health, and public policy to help build coordinated, prevention-driven communities of care.

Through collaboration with schools, families, public agencies, and policymakers, we support stronger infrastructures for prevention, early identification, coordinated response, and long-term institutional stability.

What Makes Us Different

We strengthen systems, not just programs.

We do not operate as a traditional mental health provider or a standalone training organization. Instead, we focus on strengthening the systems surrounding children and families so support is coordinated, sustainable, and legally sound.

Our work is informed by real-world leadership experience in complex public education systems and grounded in prevention science, trauma-informed practice, disability rights compliance, child welfare policy, and cross-sector collaboration.

Services:

How we support organizations and communities

Systems and Workforce Capacity

We provide research-informed insight that helps organizations and leaders better understand the systems, policies, and practices that impact children, youth, and families.

Policy Development and Alignment

We support informed, nonpartisan dialogue around child welfare and youth mental health policy, helping connect operational realities with legislative and systems-level improvement.

Family and Community Partnerships

We help families, educators, and communities better understand prevention, coordinated support systems, and the shared role they play in advancing youth wellbeing.

Why Us

Practical support for stronger, more coordinated systems.

Organizations partner with CYMI in Schools because we understand both the operational realities of public systems and the legal, ethical, and policy frameworks that shape them.

Our leadership brings deep experience in building district-wide student and family services, that include school based mental health, suicide prevention, McKinney-Vento homeless assisantace, strengthening Section 504 programs, and developing agency partnerships

  • Align policy with practice
  • Strengthen prevention and early identification systems
  • Improve coordination across departments and agencies
  • Build legally compliant and sustainable infrastructures
  • Translate complex mandates into operational clarity
  • Support policy refinement through field-based insight

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Who we serve:

Partners across education, public systems, and communities.

We work with organizations and leaders committed to improving outcomes for children, youth, and families.

  • School districts and Local Education Agencies
  • County Offices of Education
  • Public agencies and behavioral health departments
  • Nonprofit and community-based organizations
  • Charter and private schools
  • Policymakers and legislative leaders
  • Families and parent coalitions