What You Should Know:
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America, one of the nation’s largest youth-serving organizations, and Unite Us, the nation’s leading software company enabling cross-sector collaboration, are partnering to address the unmet mental health needs of young people, their families and communities across the nation.
- With more than 5,000 Clubs across the nation, Boys & Girls Clubs of America provides supportive spaces, caring mentors, and life-enhancing programs to over 3.6 million young people. For over 160 years, Clubs have been anchors in communities, giving kids and teens access to resources that help them thrive.
Enabling Collaboration Across Sectors to Improve the Health and Well-Being of Communities
Unite Us’ accountable networks of community partners connects people to much-needed resources and services, including assistance with housing, food insecurity, and transportation. Partners in Unite Us’ networks are connected through its shared technology platform, enabling them to send and receive secure, electronic referrals, collectively address people’s social needs, and ensure services that improve health across communities are delivered.
In partnership with Unite Us, Boys & Girls Clubs of America will provide local Boys & Girls Clubs with free access to and training for their online platform with the goal of connecting Club members and their families to needed community support to bolster youth mental health. Up to 20% of Americans ages 3-17 are diagnosed with a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disorder. As the effects of COVID-19 continue to exacerbate a growing trend of youth mental health disparities, collaboration between care providers is of critical importance.
“Boys & Girls Clubs across the country are dedicated to ensuring young people have access to what they need to reach their full potential,” said Jim Clark, President and CEO at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “By partnering with Unite Us, Club staff will now have the tools to connect youth and their families more easily with community programs to help them thrive.”
The Unite Us Platform will enable licensed users to communicate with other providers and ensure individuals and families receive the mental health care they need. The platform offers visibility across the continuum of care, bridging gaps between providers and closing the loop on referrals.