At Youth for Tomorrow's Henrico ribbon-cutting, Youngkin touts Virginia's behavioral health 'transformation'

Collaboration between public and private agencies, volunteers and other stakeholders has transformed Virginia’s ability to provide immediate behavioral health services to people in need statewide, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Youth for Tomorrow location in Henrico’s West End Tuesday.

Bipartisan efforts have resulted in the investment of about $1.5 billion into the system during Youngkin’s time in office, and the implementation of his administration’s “Right Help, Right Now” initiative has paid significant dividends, he told those gathered at the YFT location at 2810 North Parham Road, near Tucker High School.

“A behavioral health system that was as overwhelmed as ours was four years ago doesn’t need a single bill or a single program or a single partner, it needs a comprehensive transformation,” Youngkin said. “The problem that we had required everyone to contribute to the solution.”

Virginia was witnessing five fentanyl-related deaths per day, Youngkin said, but thanks to increased funding, enhanced law enforcement efforts, new outreach efforts and the proliferation of facilities like YFT’s that can treat people in need, the state recently witnessed a 44% decline in such deaths this year and led the nation in year-over-year percentage declines in drug overdose deaths.

When he was campaigning for governor in 2021, Youngkin said, he met people from all walks of life who raised concerns about the behavioral health system and the many needs related to it. Whether they were people who needed help, healthcare workers, providers or others, their message was the same.

“People couldn’t find help,” Youngkin said. “They could not find help, and they needed it now.

“It became such a drumbeat and such a clear recognition that we needed to collectively transform the system that when I had the great fortune of being hired – thank you for hiring me – we went to work.”

As part of his administration’s six-pillar approach to rebuilding the behavioral health system, Youngkin’s team has worked to ensure same-day treatment for people in need; reduce the burden on law enforcement officials by decriminalizing as much of the system as possible; expand the capacity of the system; improve support for substance-abuse disorders; increase the behavioral health workforce statewide; and close gaps in prevention, crisis care and recovery.

For example, the 988 suicide and crisis hotline, he said, wasn’t connecting effectively with the state’s 911 system, leading to wasted resources and inefficient service for people with urgent care needs. But today, 50 local 911 systems are fully integrated with 988 to help streamline the provision of critical services immediately. The result: calls to the 988 line have skyrocketed from 5,500 a month to 24,000 a month, Youngkin said, and the state is able to route those callers to appropriate help.

Virginia leads the nation in response times and has increased its number of mobile crisis response teams from 34 to 100, Youngkin said. The state also has implemented 23 co-response teams that can respond to potential mental health-related calls for service, meaning that law enforcement officials without mental health training can focus on their primary duties instead, he said. It’s also replaced law enforcement officials in some parts of the state with special conservators of the peace (so-called “s-cops”) who have specialized training in behavioral health situations, he added.

The state has trained about 100,000 people in how to administer the lifesaving drug naloxone to people who have overdosed, and it has distributed about 430,000 doses of the drug, Youngkin said.

Virginians also have benefited from the efforts of private groups, like Youth for Tomorrow, that have expanded their treatment services statewide, Youngkin said.

Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting in Henrico marked YFT’s first expansion outside of Northern Virginia, where it was founded by Joe Gibbs, the longtime coach of the then-Washington Redskins, in the 1980s. The organization has seven locations in Northern Virginia but now is planning others throughout the state, CEO Gary L. Jones said Tuesday.

YFT, which is leasing a 4,765-square-foot space in the Premier Tech Center in Henrico, offers a wide range of services in support of at-risk youngsters and their families and in the past year alone has worked with some 11,000 children and adults between the ages of 5 and about 85, including 250 teen mothers and 300 victims of human trafficking.

The organization offers residential services at its 215-acre location in Bristow, Virginia and outpatient counseling and treatment at its other locations. Its Henrico outpatient location will employ about a dozen therapists, and accept walk-in clients as well as those referred by agencies.

“It’s unbelievable to see what they have done,” said Youngkin, who last year presented Gibbs and Jones with the Spirit of Virginia Award, “and more importantly, they continue to find ways to expand and serve.”

Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources Janet Vestal Kelly praised the efforts of YFT and organizations like it, saying that their efforts are critical to the success that government officials envisioned as they made their enhancements to the system.

“It’s organizations like Youth for Tomorrow and our frontline mental health professionals who do that hard work of healing, and now more than ever, we know that healing happens more quickly with hope,” she said. “You are in the hope business.

“You encounter Virginians at some of their lowest moments, you meet them where they are, you look them in the eye, you might hold their hand, you tell them that they’re going to be ok. You guide them through the appropriate therapies and interventions, and before they know it, they are stronger, they are lighter, and they are healthier. You lend hope, you bring healing.”