Provides for a full-time in-school therapist to provide mental health screenings, crisis response, and counseling to local junior high and high school students.
More children live in poverty in Santa Barbara County than any other California county, save one. This grim statistic underscored the need for affordable youth mental health care even before the federal government canceled a Department of Education grant to fund 10 therapists in South County junior and senior high schools.
Meanwhile, the need for youth mental health counseling has only increased due to federal immigration policies and social safety net funding cuts.
Since 1984, the Family Service Agency has provided school-based mental health counselors for individual and group therapy across three local school districts. In 2025, the agency served 454 children with mental health issues at no cost to their families. As the agency pivots to state and fee-for-service alternatives to unstable federal funding, the Women’s Fund grant will ensure that 250 students, staff, and caregivers will be served by a full-time school therapist.
