AmeriCorps is partnering with Pinterest and the Schultz Family Foundation to install 125 18-24 year old young adults as “mental health navigators” in Michigan schools over the coming two years.

The initiative is part of a broader effort across 11 states to address an exploding mental health crisis since the pandemic by addressing a shortage of mental health professionals.

“AmeriCorps members will serve as peer support specialists and navigators at schools and in communities to connect students with care,” AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith said in a statement from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

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While LEO contends corps members “will be trained,” the extent of that training is unclear. Basic requirements to join the AmeriCorps do not entail any specific mental health training. An AmeriCorps webinar notes members must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, at least 17 years of age, and a high school graduate or working toward a diploma.

Applicants are also subjected to a criminal background check, and are disqualified if they’ve been convicted of murder or are required to register on a public sex offender registry. Eligibility for the new Youth Mental Health Corps is restricted to 18- to 24-year-olds with a high school diploma.

The goal of the new program is twofold: to address student mental health needs, and to provide a way for folks to explore a career in mental health.

“We have seen throughout our state, and there are challenges that have happened with mass shootings and other issues that have occurred. And so as a result, we knew that mental health was a concern for us,” Ginna Holmes, executive director of the Michigan Community Service Commission, told WWMT.

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“This gives an opportunity for people to start as an AmeriCorps member, and then in addition to that, be able to support students and youth at the same time that they are getting supported and gaining some skill sets.”

The program “gives them a chance to try it out, to learn more about it, and to gain those skills,” Holmes said.

While they do, corps members will “gain valuable on-the-job experience” as well as a stipend, credentials toward a mental health career, and awards for higher education, according to LEO.

The program is designed to steer participants into career pathways as school- or community-based professionals, peer recovery coaches, or community health workers.

“We are at a critical moment where we must act with urgency to address the mental health crisis that is impacting millions of our children,” Smith said. “I am incredibly thankful for our grantees and partners at America Forward, Pinterest and Schultz Family Foundation for standing up Youth Mental Health Corps. This innovative cross-sector partnership will build on AmeriCorps’ 30 years of hands-on experience supporting youth mental health and well-being.”

Despite that long history working to address youth mental health, one in three high school students report persistent feelings of hopelessness, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

According to LEO: “Michigan has a high rate of mental illness amongst youth, ranking 35th amongst states, according to Mental Health America. In Michigan, there are nearly 40,000 children diagnosed with mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety who are not receiving the necessary treatment, either because they cannot find, access or afford care or due to the prevailing stigma around mental health diagnosis. Death by suicide is tied with unintentional injury for the leading cause of death for 10- to 14-year-olds.”

A 2022 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 37% of high school students reported poor mental health during the pandemic, with 44% reporting feeling persistently sad or hopeless over the prior year.

The research is tied to isolation from government restrictions during the pandemic that limited in-person instruction, cut off supportive role models, and eliminated creative outlets that allow children to express themselves through teams, sports, clubs, activities, and social events, according to Children’s Hospital New Orleans.

That was especially evident in Michigan, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shuttered schools far longer than most other states, resulting in major declines in student academic performance and well-being.

Recovery has been complicated by staffing shortages that made the Great Lakes State the second worst in the nation for student-to-counselor ratios in 2022-23, ranked 49^th by the American School Counselor Association at 598:1, MLive reports.

“As we see increasing reports of suicide, bullying, drugs, assault, and self-harm, we must keep investing in mental support for our kids,” Whitmer said in a July statement.

Two days later, the governor signed a record $82.5 billion 2025 state budget that cut school safety and mental health funding by more than $300 million, while keeping per-pupil funding flat for the first time since 2011.

“With one signature, the governor left kids across Northeast Michigan less safe and without critical mental health resources,” Cheboygan Republican Rep. Cam Cavitt said in a statement. “Democrats will stop at nothing to bankroll their radical agenda. Our teachers will suffer. Our kids are going to suffer.”

According to the 2023 Annual Report for Michigan’s nationally recognized OK2SAY program, the state received 9,686 tips spanning 30 categories involving student safety and mental health issues, including 1,769 that involved bullying, 1,482 dealing with suicide, 1,286 about drugs, 815 regarding sexual assault or exploitation, and 741 detailing threats to individuals.

Republicans, and officials with the Michigan Education Association that helped elect the first Democratic government trifecta in 40 years in 2022, are now lobbying Democrats in Lansing to restore mental health funding, though whether those efforts will be successful remains to be seen.