ALIVE Center to expand teen mental health support
Responding to the escalating youth mental health crisis, the ALIVE Center for Teens, based in Naperville, Aurora, and Hanover Park, has launched an innovative social franchise model, now registered with the state of Illinois, to significantly expand its proven teen support system statewide.
ALIVE Centers are tackling a significant issue that affects everyone — our youth are facing major mental health challenges with very few preventative solutions offered.
In December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General warned of a “devastating” crisis among adolescents, echoed by hospitals and medical groups declaring it a national emergency.
According to the Center for Disease Control in 2021, 37% of high schoolers reported “poor mental health.” The unsupervised hours after school and during the summer are the most vulnerable hours of a teen’s life, increasing the risk of juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, overuse of screens, feeling disconnected and lonely and sex.
ALIVE Centers offer a peer-to-peer, evidence-informed approach to teen support in Illinois, demonstrably impacting participating youth. Through safe after-school and summer drop-in hours, the centers provide free programming designed to foster mental well-being, empower teens, cultivate belonging, promote physical health, and inspire personal growth.
The ALIVE Center has a proven solution that works and most importantly, helps build positive mental health in attending youth. ALIVE uses evidence-based protective factors such as healthy recreation, being close to at least one adult, providing healthy recreation and giving youth a voice to create spaces that build stronger, more mentally healthy kids.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin said, “High-quality after-school programs are proven strategies to prevent crime. They improve school attendance and behavior, boost academics, and keep kids safe, supervised, and socially and academically stimulated during the prime time for juvenile crime. Expanding public support for quality after-school programs throughout DuPage County will help kids stay out of trouble, reduce crime, and improve public safety.”
“We are facing an unprecedented youth mental health crisis,” stated Kandice Henning, CEO and founder of the ALIVE Center for Teens. “While therapy is crucial, we must also focus upstream on prevention. Our model offers a vital preventative solution, yet only a small fraction of Illinois communities have access to free teen centers like ours.”
This social franchise model offers communities a streamlined and supported pathway to establish their own ALIVE Teen Center.
The comprehensive model includes training, consulting, standardized processes and procedures, customizable templates, and ongoing collaborative support.
The ALIVE Center is initially focusing on implementing this model within the Chicago metro area. ALIVE Centers can be seamlessly integrated into libraries, park districts, municipal buildings, or newly constructed spaces.
Since its inception in 2015, the ALIVE Center for Teens has recorded over 85,000 teen visits, serving more than 8,000 individual teens. Impressively, ALIVE’s programs have been shown to improve confidence, courage, and independence in 84% of participating teens.”
To learn more about the Alive Center, visit www.alivecenter.org.