Addressing Critical Workforce Shortages in Youth Mental Health: Implementation of a Multicomponent Career Development Program.

Objective: With rising prevalence of mental disorders, especially among underserved and under-resourced youth, mental health workforce shortages are evident across the United States. This study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and pilot implementation of a multicomponent career development program, the Youth Mental Health Academy (YMHA), for structurally marginalized youth-including underrepresentation based on race/ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation/gender identities, socioeconomic challenges, parents/caregivers without college degree, geographic isolation, foster care/juvenile legal system involvement, or having a parent/caregiver in the military. Method: Structurally marginalized high school students interested in mental health careers were encouraged to apply. Students completed baseline and post-program assessments and weekly acceptability ratings. Program feasibility was assessed via attendance, recruitment, and retention rates. Results: A total of 135 students enrolled in the YMHA pilot. Participants were ethnoracially diverse-51.9% Hispanic/Latinx, 30.4% Asian/Asian American, 14.1% Black/African American, 3.7% Middle Eastern, and 3.7% White; 68.9% identified as female. Approximately 40% met criteria for socioeconomic challenges (eg, Federal Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility), 15% had histories of foster care or juvenile legal involvement, and about 7% reported a chronic condition/disability. Of participants, 92% (n = 125) completed the first summer program with high attendance (>75% days attended), and 87.4% (n = 118) completed a second summer internship. High acceptability was maintained throughout. After the 14-month program, 82.9% of students indicated interest in pursuing mental health careers. Conclusion: High acceptability, retention, and engagement indicate that the YMHA program is a promising approach to diversifying the mental health workforce. A large-scale study is needed to examine the scalability and sustainability of this model. Diversity & Inclusion Statement: We worked to ensure sex and gender balance in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure race, ethnic, and/or other types of diversity in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. Diverse cell lines and/or genomic datasets were not available. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as living with a disability. One or more of the authors of this paper received support from a program designed to increase minority representation in science. We actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our author group. We actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our author group. While citing references scientifically relevant for this work, we also actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our reference list. While citing references scientifically relevant for this work, we also actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our reference list. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location and/or community where the research was conducted who participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work.