Five Philadelphia nonprofits are receiving $6.55 million in Pew grants to expand youth and child mental health services

Five Philadelphia organizations working on child and youth mental health will receive a combined $6.55 million in grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts to expand access to services, the national nonprofit announced Thursday.

The Pew grants aim to create more treatment options to expand the geographic reach of services within the city, and train providers in this highly specialized care, said Kristin Romens, project director of Pew’s Fund for Health and Human Services.

Pew chose the organizations for their expertise and work within the community. “All of them take partnering with their clients and community very seriously,” Romens said.

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Public health authorities have been warning of a youth mental health crisis since the onset of the pandemic, when many children experienced grief, isolation, and the disruption of routines. In Philadelphia, children in many neighborhoods also are exposed to gun violence. A Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia study from 2021 showed that a shooting increases the number of youth from surrounding blocks visiting the emergency department with mental health complaints.

Four million in grant funding will support the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center, a regional mental health agency. The funds will help the organization treat 2,000 more children annually and open an outpatient clinic in North Philadelphia, where roughly a third of the center’s current clients live. It will also support investments in infrastructure, technology, and the growth of the organization, said Antonio Valdés, the center’s chief executive officer.

“This kind of support allows us to be that more sophisticated and nimble organization,” Valdés said.

Pew also awarded $1.8 million to the Center for Families and Relationships, a Northeast-based nonprofit providing counseling, to open two new locations and double the number of young people they serve in the area.

Three other organizations received $250,000 each to promote learning, raise awareness, and enhance treatment options for those requiring intensive care.

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The Philadelphia Children’s Alliance, which works with children who have been sexually abused, will use the grant to train 50 mental health providers to treat young children who exhibit problematic sexual behaviors, such as playing sexually with dolls or inappropriately rubbing their bodies on objects, said Benita Williams, the organization’s executive director.

The Alliance primarily treats children with complaints of abuse. But occasionally, a child without known history of abuse shows concerning sexual behavior for their age. Because there is no open case, these children don’t receive services.

“We have quite a few children who fit into this category,” Williams said. “We see these children come later as perpetrators.”

In addition to training providers, the Alliance will hire a liaison to work with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services to identify these children and connect them with care as early as possible.

“I can’t overstate the impact this will have on Philly,” Williams said.

Receiving $250,000 each are Penn Medicine’s Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer, which will work with Black and Latino children, and the Child Guidance Resource Centers to expand and diversify the mental health workforce.