Kaiser Permanente invests $10 million to expand youth mental health peer support

The Youth Mental Health Corps increases access, strengthens connections, and complements clinical care.

• Kaiser Permanente joins Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest as a national partner of the Youth Mental Health Corps.
• Funding will first expand programs in California, Maryland, and Oregon before scaling to other states.
• Grant will help address increasing mental health needs among teens, aiming to support an additional 200,000 youth nationwide.

OAKLAND, Calif., July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente has committed $10 million to expand the work of the Youth Mental Health Corps, an initiative that supports teenagers by connecting them with young adult peers who provide mental health and navigation support. The broad goal of the grant is to increase access to mental health support for an additional 200,000 youth nationwide.

As part of this support, Kaiser Permanente will join founding organizations Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest as a strategic leader and national partner in advancing the Youth Mental Health Corps.

The Youth Mental Health Corps recruits, trains, and places young adults ages 18 to 29 who provide peer support to teens within schools, health clinics, and community organization settings. It aims to help youth navigate stress, isolation, and early signs of mental health concerns before a crisis occurs. Active in 16 states, the Youth Mental Health Corps has trained and placed nearly 1,000 members and reached more than 44,000 teens and community members since launching in 2024.

"Supporting mental health requires more than clinical care alone," said Bechara Choucair, executive vice president and chief health officer for Kaiser Permanente. "The Youth Mental Health Corps creates another pathway for young people to receive emotional support through trusted peer relationships. It's an innovative approach that helps communities expand support, foster connection, and meet young people where they are."

Rates of anxiety and depression among teens are rising, and resources are limited. In 2023, 40% of high school students in the United States reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. In 2024, more than 40% of youth 12 to 17 who experienced a major depressive episode did not receive any mental health treatment.

Kaiser Permanente's $10 million commitment will help the Youth Mental Health Corps reach more young people and strengthen training for the young adults who provide peer support. The funding will initially expand existing Youth Mental Health Corps programs in California, Maryland, and Oregon, before scaling across Kaiser Permanente's 9-state footprint.

A growing body of research shows that young people often feel more comfortable talking with peers they trust. Peer support approaches are particularly effective in fostering human connections, reducing isolation, and helping young people navigate personal challenges.

"The Youth Mental Health Corps was launched by the Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest to prove that we could address 2 urgent needs at once: expanding access to youth mental health support while creating career pathways into the behavioral health workforce. In just 2 years, the corps has grown from 4 pilot states to a 27-state initiative that has already supported tens of thousands of young people," said Vivek Varma, CEO of the Schultz Family Foundation. "Kaiser Permanente's extraordinary leadership and investment will help us build on that momentum, and we are thrilled to welcome a partner whose deep expertise and longstanding commitment to youth mental health will strengthen this work for years to come."

The Youth Mental Health Corps has gained support from state leaders and community organizations committed to improving youth mental health. They see the program as an opportunity for young adults to get early career experience providing mental health services, potentially helping to grow the field's professional pipeline.

"I am thankful to Kaiser Permanente and the Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest for supporting the Youth Mental Health Corps and increasing access to mental health services," said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a longtime champion of service-to-career pathways. "Through service opportunities, we are creating meaningful pathways for young people to uplift their communities while they gain skills needed to succeed in their careers."

This grant builds on Kaiser Permanente's wider efforts to strengthen mental health at the population level through investments in innovative models of support, workforce development initiatives, educational partnerships, and other approaches to expanding access to care. As a nonprofit health care organization, Kaiser Permanente reinvests a portion of its revenue into initiatives like the Youth Mental Health Corps that broadly benefit the communities where it operates.

Kaiser Permanente leaders will participate in the National Governors Association's Summer Meeting in early August to discuss how innovative national service models can help states address pressing challenges like mental health, with the Youth Mental Health Corps highlighted as an example of this approach.

About the Youth Mental Health Corps
The Youth Mental Health Corps is a national service initiative addressing two urgent challenges: the youth mental health crisis and the behavioral health workforce shortage. The Corps trains and places young adults ages 18 to 29 as near-peer mental health navigators in schools, community organizations, and health care settings, providing trusted, non-clinical support to youth while gaining the training, credentials, and experience needed to pursue careers in behavioral health. Created by the Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest, the Youth Mental Health Corps is powered by a multisector partnership of state service commissions, philanthropic organizations, and corporate partners. Learn more at youthmentalhealthcorps.org.

About the Schultz Family Foundation
The Schultz Family Foundation's mission is to create greater opportunity, accessible to all. Our work is deeply rooted in the lives and values of our co-founders, Sheri and Howard Schultz, who believe talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. We seek to apply the lessons they have learned over the decades to seed innovations and scale solutions to help young people successfully navigate the transition to adulthood and positively impact the trajectory of their lives. We are investors in unleashing potential and unlocking opportunity, working in partnership with employers, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and governments that share our aspiration of enabling everyone to access the full promise of America. Learn more at: schultzfamilyfoundation.org.

About Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual search and discovery platform where people find inspiration, curate ideas and shop products — all in a positive place online. Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinterest has over 600 million monthly active users worldwide.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.9 million members in 9 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. For more information, go to about.kp.org.  

For more information, contact:
Hilary Costa
[email protected]

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente