Editor’s note: One of the many funding cuts carried out by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the early months of Donald Trump’s second term was the cancellation more than $400 million in grants to AmeriCorps, a national program that provides stipends to Americans, mostly young adults, to provide community service in areas like education, disaster relief and conservation. The cuts eliminated more than 40% of the agency’s annual funding and reverberated across the country, including in Colorado, where 27 AmeriCorps operations lost more than $8 million worth of grants.
Twenty-four Democrat-led states, including Colorado and California – which lost more than 5,600 AmeriCorps public service workers and over $60 million in funding – challenged the cuts in court and in June, a federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary injunction blocking the cuts.
But “the damage was already done,” a representative of Governor Jared Polis told Tricia Stortz, a freelance contributor to the the Denver Gazette. Despite the legal victory, he said, delays in receiving funds impeded the state’s ability to recruit Corps members and raise matching funds from private donors.
Stortz looked at how members of Colorado’s Youth Mental Health Corps are making a difference in two rural school districts for stories in the Gazette, which are republished below.
In rural Colorado, a single school counselor can face impossible odds. With limited staff, students in crisis are at high risk of slipping through the cracks, and having their emotional, social, and academic needs unmet.
At Moffat Schools in the San Luis Valley, school counselor Sarah DeLeon knows those challenges firsthand. “School counselors can be a difficult position to fill given our rural location,” she said.
DeLeon serves 114 students, many of whom face significant challenges outside of school. Nearly 20% of students qualify for McKinney-Vento services for unhoused youth, and many face poverty or other forms of instability at home that affect their daily lives and learning.
Even with support from San Luis Valley Behavioral Health and a part-time counselor, many students remain at risk of not receiving the help they need.
The Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC), launched after the pandemic by Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera and John Kelly, executive director of Serve Colorado, the state’s AmeriCorps program, was created to help schools like Moffat address urgent needs. The program places trained Corps members in schools and community centers across Colorado to provide near-peer support, expand counseling capacity, and build a pipeline of future behavioral health professionals.
At Moffat, that role is filled by Karen Gamez, a Corps member who recently started working directly alongside DeLeon. The position offers a bridge between students and the formal counseling system while also preparing Gamez and others for future careers in the field. “ Long-term, I hope my work is impactful enough where Sarah can get the help she needs and students feel comfortable coming to me,” Gamez said.
Training and mentorship are central to the Corps’ design. Members complete coursework in Youth Mental Health First Aid, trauma-informed care, crisis intervention, therapeutic communication, and case management while receiving direct supervision from school staff.
“They get training and credentials offered through the Colorado Community College system, besides their on-the-ground experience working with students,” Primavera said. “Their credentials range from micro-credentials all the way up to master’s level. And they’re also supported under the mentorship of the (counselors) they are working under.”
To prepare members for the unique challenges of rural placements, the program also offers community-building opportunities. Megan Strauss, founder of the Alpine Achievers Initiative, which supports AmeriCorps placements in rural schools, described a week-long residential retreat that kicks off each service year.
“It’s focused on building community within the cohort to increase their own resiliency” Strauss said. “It offers equity and belonging trainings and orientation to the communities where they will be serving.”
Once in schools, Corps members work closely with multiple partners to ensure students receive comprehensive support.
“They collaborate with counseling staff, teachers, law enforcement, and community coalitions to identify at-risk students and coordinate wraparound support,” DeLeon said. “Our agency support services committee is a consortium of folks from all over the San Luis Valley that ensures our families get everything from food and clothing to emergency shelter and tutoring. These supports are fundamental to our ability to be successful both here at the school level, but more importantly, our outcomes for the students that come out of here.”
Still, funding remains a persistent challenge. Federal AmeriCorps budget cuts issued in April reduced the first-year YMHC cohort from 145 members to just 80 in year two, leaving fewer Corps members in schools and limiting the mental health support available to students. “We’ve had a cut in our budget, which means we can’t provide as many services. We can’t provide as many professionals,” Primavera said.
Added Strauss, “In a rural community where the whole staff might be 20 people, adding that one person is massive. To lose 15 full-time members … it hurts the students more than anything.”
To maintain continuity in her school, DeLeon has kept Moffat’s Corps position funded through a combination of layered grants and partnerships.
“Had I not received this AmeriCorps member to support my role, I’m not certain that I would be able to choose to serve in this local school capacity because my role needs the support in order for the work to be sustainable,” she said. “Without Karen here (through AmeriCorps) the simple matter would be our students would not receive social emotional learning supports whatsoever.”
Efforts like DeLeon’s help sustain a program that is building a broader pipeline of mental health professionals across the state. Primavera said nearly two-thirds of Corps members plan to remain in Colorado, with most pursuing advanced education in behavioral health fields. “The fact that we have this pipeline already established and such a need — 1 in 3 Colorado high school students report persistent sadness or hopelessness — that’s a huge boost for our pipeline for mental health workers,” she said.
According to AmeriCorps data, Youth Mental Health Corps members deliver up to $34 in community value for every $1 invested. By providing early interventions in schools, the program helps licensed behavioral health specialists practice at full scope, reducing emergency costs while improving attendance and graduation rates.
Since the budget cuts, the program and participating Colorado schools have had to adjust their approach in order to ensure services continue despite limited resources.
“It’s really sad. Instead of decreasing the program, we should be expanding it,” Primavera said. “We have more people wanting to join the program than we have spots for them. We’d like to see the program reach all corners of the state with sustainable funding.”
In Southern Colorado, a Middle School Feels the Pain
For 12-year-old students navigating middle school in rural Colorado, challenges extend far beyond homework and social dynamics. Many face unstable housing, language barriers, and limited access to mental health resources. For them, the Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) can be a lifeline.
Berkeley Wall, a second-year YMHC member at Ortega Middle School in Alamosa, has spent countless hours building trust with students who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
“I really just wanted to be back working with the same students because it seems like there’s a clear need,” she said. “I think my students and I have been able to really build on our relationships from last year and just realize that I am around and I really do care about what happens for them.”
Wall’s day-to-day work is highly personalized. She moves from classroom to classroom, focusing on students’ individual needs, especially Spanish-speaking students who need help integrating academically and socially.
“Whenever they are receiving a huge packet in English, I work on putting it in Spanish or in a bilingual format for them so that they can actually understand,” she said. “A lot of it is just trying to make connections with the Spanish-speaking population.”
“We have 468 kids total right now, sixth through eighth grade. Berkeley probably services, gosh, just being in the classroom, probably over 200 kids a day … at least a hundred kids she’s helping out directly,” said Nate Gonzales, the principal at Ortega Middle School.
To serve those 468 students, Ortega has two full-time counselors, 2 part-time counselors in training under supervision and then Wall as an additional near peer support through YMHC.
One student’s story exemplifies the program’s impact. Last year, a girl experiencing homelessness confided in Wall as her first trusted adult. Together, they navigated the complex process of securing housing for the girl and her family. “She couldn’t stand me some days,” Wall said, “but I wouldn’t trade our relationship for the world. I know that I’m an important adult in her life and that she’s a really important kid in my life.”
Simple interventions can also be transformative. A student struggling to see the board in class had gone years without proper glasses. Teachers had assumed she was simply performing poorly. Wall advocated for her, secured the glasses, and witnessed a dramatic turnaround in her grades.
“Children aren’t bad, they just have bad situations,” she said. “Being able to be the first person to really listen to her and meet her where she is. Her grades have skyrocketed this year.”
Beyond academics, Wall helps students develop social-emotional skills, offering support for everyday challenges such as regulating emotions and navigating interpersonal conflicts.
“Having an authentic human being that can really relate to them and regulate them is extremely important,” she said. “It’s more impactful than a meditation app or a 30-minute yoga session. They’re getting a trusted adult who’s invested in them.”
Principal Gonzales agreed: “I think our building’s in a better place than it was a couple years ago. Our staff is happier, our climate’s better, and our kids are happier.”
The Corps’ student-centered approach extends statewide. Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera recounted instances where AmeriCorps members provided crucial support. A mother and her daughter, a gang violence survivor, were connected with therapy and tutoring through their school-based Corps member. Another grieving student remained engaged in school because the Corps member was available on demand. “Students didn’t need to make an appointment. They had someone right there,” Primavera said.
Serve Colorado notes that the program is essential, not extra. By providing early interventions to students who require lower levels of care, YMHC increases the capacity of licensed behavioral health specialists to focus on complex cases, reduces emergency behavioral health costs, boosts attendance and graduation rates, and lowers long-term spending in juvenile justice, child welfare and Medicaid.
The program also builds future leaders.
“It’s providing a very clear trajectory for young adults like me to get involved in the field,” Wall said. “They back up all of their people to get certified to stay in these communities and benefit them directly in a place where support is extremely scarce.”
Even with funding challenges, such as AmeriCorps cuts that reduced the first-year cohort from 145 to 80 members, the Corps continues to deliver for students. “Students are getting a direct trusted adult,” Wall said. “It matters that they’re getting a human resource versus another capital resource. Having a real person care about them is invaluable.”
From advocating for language access to providing hands-on support for basic needs, YMHC members like Wall create meaningful, measurable change. In small rural schools, their presence ensures that students who are most vulnerable have someone in their corner, an adult who believes in them, invests in their success, and gives them a path toward a brighter future.
