United for Youth

San Mateo County’s children and youth are facing an increasing amount of challenges to their behavioral health and well-being.

In response, the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities launched United for Youth in partnership with more than 20 public agencies and community-based organizations to:

Understand the landscape of both the challenges and supports around youth behavioral health and well-being
Develop a plan of action that aligns strategies, prioritizes collaboration, maximizes available and new funding, and embraces accountability to improve access and equity

Vision 2030 Plan of Action

The United for Youth: Vision 2030 Plan of Action is a strategic document for all of those charged with helping support children, youth, families, and the service providers that care for them to develop their own strategic plans, Local Control and Accountability Plans, and other guiding documents in the coming years. The Plan's priorities, strategies, and activities helps San Mateo County providers enhance their services, workforce, and responsiveness; partner more deliberately; and develop trauma-informed, culturally competent services for children, youth, and families.

Read the Full Plan of Action

In September 2024, the Coalition released its United for Youth Vision 2030 Plan of Action, which includes guiding principles, priorities, strategies, and related activities that reflect the recommendations of the United for Youth workgroups. This plan serves as a strategic document that guides efforts and allows partners to see individual projects in a larger context. It outlines recommendations requiring multiple years of effort by partners across sectors.

Download the Full Report (also available in Spanish)

Read a Summary of the Report

Priority One

Expand prevention and education efforts that promote social-emotional well-being.

Priority Two

Improve early identification of youth behavioral health needs and facilitate access to services to address these needs.

Priority Three

Facilitate greater access to a full range of youth-centered behavioral health treatment services.

Priority Four

Invest in the existing and emerging behavioral health workforce and promote diversity and sustainability.

Priority Five

Leverage available public and private funding and other resources, including technology.

United for Youth Grants

The Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities offers competitive grants from Measure K funding, which is allocated by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. The San Mateo County Office of Education, serving as the Coalition’s backbone agency, will manage the distribution of Measure K funds, totaling $1,395,000 over three years, with $465,000 allocated annually. These one-time discretionary grants are awarded to nonprofits and school districts to support projects and initiatives that enhance youth behavioral health.

Request for Applications

A total of four grants will be awarded in May 2025, with the grant term ending June 30, 2027. Winners will be announced on May 12, 2025. The total amount of individual grant awards will not exceed $348,750 per grant. Below are the links related to the United for Youth Grant Request of Applications.

United for Youth Grants

Developing the Plan

In 2023, the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities (Coalition) launched United for Youth in partnership with school districts and more than 20 public agencies and community-based organizations with input from youth and caregivers. The United for Youth process and plan was guided by a Steering Committee providing strategic oversight.

Meeting monthly, Steering Committee members offered input on a San Mateo County behavioral health landscape analysis and participated in deep-dive discussions to inform the Plan of Action on topics such as workforce, emerging funding opportunities, and related state policy initiatives.

In addition, United for Youth relied on four cross-sector workgroups that met five times throughout the 2023-24 school year to assess the current landscape and develop priority recommendations. In addition to serving on workgroups, youth and families provided direct input to shape the Plan of Action through nine community sessions.

There was a high degree of concordance across workgroups, community sessions, and community needs assessments about the strengths and priority gaps to improve well-being. A draft Plan of Action was reviewed by the workgroups and discussed by the Steering Committee before being forwarded to the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities for review and adoption.

Implementing the Plan

After launching the Plan in Fall 2024, the Coalition began hosting broad and targeted convenings for business and government leaders, funders, service providers, schools, and families to understand the Plan and advocate for greater involvement in improving youth behavioral health. The Steering Committee also began addressing planning, enactment, tracking, oversight, and measures of success to maintain a shared focus and evaluate impact.

United For Youth Steering Committee

The United for Youth Steering Committee is made up of the following organizations:

Bay Area Community Health Advisory Council
Daly City Youth Health Center
Health Plan of San Mateo
Kaiser Permanente
Youth to Action Board (YAB), Youth Committee
Novos Consulting/Behavioral Health Commission

Pacific Health
Peninsula Health Care District
San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
San Mateo County Office of Education
San Mateo County Public Health, Policy and Planning

San Mateo Probation
Sand Hill Foundation
Sequoia Health Care District
San Mateo County Children and Family Services
Stanford University School of Medicine
StarVista