Young Minds Advocacy Project

At Young Minds Advocacy Project (YMAP), we believe that when young people are empowered by a sense of well-being and good mental health, they have increased potential to lift themselves, their families, and their communities to greater opportunity. Through advocacy and public education, we work to develop quality and accountable mental health services and systems for youth. 

YMAP was founded in Menlo Park in 2012, with a small, hardworking Bay Area staff of lawyers, former clinicians, and community advocates. We use our decades of combined experience in the realm of child-serving systems and mental health to improve mental health services and supports for young people. 

Along with many other adults in our community, we recognize that while we in Silicon Valley benefit from our vibrant technology industry and employment opportunities, many Silicon Valley youth struggle day to day to meet the demands of coping in this fast-paced environment. 

What We Do

With an eye toward growing youth mental health needs, YMAP helps secure necessary resources and funding for mental health services for thousands of youth in our community.   

Whether we are writing language for youth mental healthcare legislation, advocating for resources that strengthen mental healthcare systems, or building coalitions that increase awareness of and create more opportunities for youth emotional wellness, our efforts make a measurable difference in the lives of youth. 

In any given year, only 20% of our children with mental health challenges are identified and receive mental health services. 

Together we can make a difference. Not everyone has the advantages that many of us have in Silicon Valley, but our resources can bring funding to advocacy that helps empower young people to take control of their lives, and be resilient, productive, and secure.

Would you like to learn more? Please visit our website at www.youngmindsadvocacy.org

We regularly share the voices and stories of young people who live successfully with mental health challenges. Read one such story by our guest blogger, Susan Page, here.

Thank you for your consideration! If you have questions or comments, we would love to hear from you.