CalOptima Health broke ground in San Juan Capistrano for the fifth youth wellness and prevention center on April 11. Thanks to a grant, it hopes to fund more resources directly to communities. This will be the first youth-designed allcove in Orange County.
Thanks to a CalOptima Health grant of $2.7 million to Wellness & Prevention Center (WPC), the allcove hopes to open this summer and offer a safe and inclusive space for young people ages 12 to 25. This will allow those to access affordable mental health and wellness services to support their emotional, physical and social well-being.
The program was initiated through the state’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC). As one of just five sites in the state, the future center will deliver a broad range of services, including mental health, physical health, substance use disorder services, peer support, family support, housing services, supported education and employment services.
“CalOptima Health is really proud to be part of this project because it’s a space that young people have created for each other,” said Carmen Katsarov, LPCC, CCM, executive director of Behavioral Health Integration at CalOptima Health. “We’re committed to supporting the next generation with mental health and wellness resources that are welcoming, inclusive and shaped by their voices.”
One of the center’s unique features is its Youth Advisory Group (YAG), made up of local high school and college students who have met regularly for the past two years to offer insight into the design, layout and programming.
“ The allcove is, at heart, designed by youth input,” Katsarov said. “They’ve been in every part of design, even picking out potential colors and layout, and the different services that might take place. There are different ages represented because there are so many different phases and things that they go through in the community, from middle school to high school age to college and beyond.”
With their input, the center will include a learning kitchen and access to basic needs resources like a clothing swap area, food pantry and washer and dryer. The allcove model was developed as part of California’s Children & Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, and the future allcove in San Juan Capistrano will be operated by WPC in partnership with UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology. The center will be staffed by peer support specialists of young adults with lived experience who are trained to provide meaningful support to their peers. A licensed clinician will supervise the peer team, ensuring high-quality care for young people seeking mental health and wellness services.
“ We want youth to feel comfortable walking in and getting various services and needs met, which could be just dropping in for social support and seeing other people there, and spending time. It could be to get help with homework, or beyond that with some different classes the allcove will offer, whether on healthy eating and nutrition, and other things teens might be interested in related to health,” Katsarov said.
“There will be availability beyond just some of the peer support, like teens and early young adults in that age range, to also get mental health counseling or other services, if needed. It’s more the strength, the range of services that will be represented, and the different things someone can access. It’s not a one-size-fits-all, but a menu of other services that that age group can access.”