Mobile mental health program brings care to Tennessee’s youth in need

DICKSON, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee has been ranked 40th in the nation for access to mental health care, according to Mental Health America . One state-funded program is working to expand access for Tennessee’s youngest patients by meeting them where they are.

Youth Villages , a private, nonprofit organization, officially launched its Intercept program in 2006. The Intercept program provides in-home mental health care to Tennessee’s vulnerable youth.

According to Youth Villages, there are zero psychologists in 39 out of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Dakota Sullivan, a family intervention specialist for Youth Villages’ Intercept program, has witnessed the limitations of mental health care access throughout the state.

“I have a lot of families that struggle to access mental health care simply because of where they live and how far out they are from the metro areas,” Sullivan said. “A lot of families are an hour, maybe two, [away] from any kind of mental health service.”

Various public and private organizations refer children to the Intercept program. Some of those children include those at risk of entering, or are involved in, the juvenile justice and foster care systems, among other situations. Youth Villages’ family intervention specialists would then travel to children’s homes three times per week anywhere from four to nine months to provide care.

“Usually, the first step is showing them it’s okay to talk about their mental health — that it’s okay to say, ‘I am struggling and I’m having a hard time with this,’ because most of them really don’t want to do that,” Sullivan said. “Most of them want to keep those struggles to themselves; they feel like something is wrong with them.”

The Intercept program serves around 1,600 children living in any of Tennessee’s 95 counties on any given day. In 2023, 6,746 children received care through Intercept, according to Youth Villages.

The organization said that one year after discharge, data showed that 91 percent of patients live at home, 96 percent go back to school or become employed, and 93 percent had no further issues with the law.

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“Seeing them thrive where they used to struggle, that means something to me quite a bit,” Sullivan said.

While Intercept officially launched in 2006, Youth Villages started its in-home services in 1993. The program is mainly funded through Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services .

To learn more about Intercept, click here.

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