Youth MOVE Massachusetts is youth and young adult-driven, as well as peer-led, from the lived experience of mental health within the Youth Program Manager role, to Young Adult Peer Support Specialist role. We offer our youth access to leadership skills and training opportunities within our programming, including panel moderation, training facilitation, opportunities to educate providers and other youth-serving entities, as well as statewide and national policy advocacy opportunities. We support an incredibly diverse group of youth and young adults aged 13-35 with diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to youth with lived experience in mental health/behavioral healthcare, who may also experience concerns within the following categories: foster care and adoption, court and probation involvement, medical diagnoses with mental health, co-occurring disorders, LQBTQ+ challenges, homelessness, trauma, school-based issues, displacement due to domestic violence and homelessness, poverty, and concerns around immigration status. Many of the youth we support do not have sufficient familial or community connection, and our current referrals come from the Department of Mental Health, Department of Youth Services, Department of Children and Families, DESE, community medical and clinical/therapeutic providers, and on a walk-in and word of mouth basis from parents and peers.
