Cigna selects grant recipients for youth mental health program
The grant program will address post-pandemic stress and distress among youth 5 to 18 years old.
Photo: Basak Gurbuz Derman/Getty Images
The Cigna Group Foundation, Cigna's philanthropic arm, has selected the first round of grant recipients for a new initiative to support youth mental health.
As part of this grant program, the Cigna Group Foundation has allocated $9 million to nonprofit organizations over the next three years to intervene in the youth mental health crisis.
The grant program will address post-pandemic stress and distress among youth 5 to 18 years old, with a focus on programs and services delivered in schools and related settings.
The goals of the program in the first year are to expand the reach of programming that fosters social-emotional skills and wellbeing; increase the number of parents, caregivers and youth service professionals who feel equipped to support; and extend pathways to mental health intervention and access to care.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
According to an analysis by the Evernorth Research Institute, the number of young people with behavioral and mental health conditions has increased 28% since 2018, while the number of young people with two or more mental health diagnoses has risen 48% in that time.
Of the 22 youth mental health grantees, nearly half of the organizations reported that this is their first time receiving funding from the Cigna Group or the Cigna Group Foundation.
They include Mindfulness First (Arizona), McCall Foundation (Connecticut), Children's Bereavement Center (Florida), Wings for Kids (Georgia), Lion's Pride Mentoring (Illinois), New London Counseling Center (Pennsylvania), Physician Associate Foundation of the American Academy of Physician Associates (Pennsylvania), Conexión Américas (Tennessee), Austin-Travis County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center (Texas), and Planting Seeds (Texas).
Additional grantees include El Rio Santa Cruz Neighborhood Health Center (Arizona), the Village for Families & Children (Connecticut), Metropolitan Ministries (Florida), Women Moving On (Georgia), Human Support Services (Illinois), the Community House (Illinois), the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital (Missouri), LOGOS School (Missouri), Oasis – A Haven for Women and Children (New Jersey), Education Law Center – PA (Pennsylvania), Gestalt Community Schools (Tennessee), and Eluna (Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas).
THE LARGER TREND
The Cigna Group Foundation recently announced a multiyear philanthropic and community engagement initiative that has committed $27 million in grants over the next three years to nonprofit organizations focused on improving youth mental health, improving veteran mental health through housing stability and reducing barriers to health equity.
To kick off the youth mental health initiative, the Cigna Group Foundation earlier this year announced a national partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which is using funding to lead the development and production of a teen mental health guide, while also partnering with the Cigna Group on employee volunteer activities.
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.
