Youth Wellness Zones

A group of students seen huddled in a circle looking up at a lime-green balloon as they all use their pointed fingers to lift it up above thier heads. — Photo courtesy of Renton Innovation Zone Partnership

The Youth Wellness Zone initiative is a place-based, collective-impact approach to create meaningful, positive change in youth mental wellness in Washington state. “Zones,” hyperlocal geographic regions, utilize community expertise and engagement to identify needs and create change in built and social environments, service entities, and local policies. This learning collaborative currently includes four communities: Northeast Spokane (The ZONE at the North East Community Center Association), Yakima Valley Partners for Education, Renton Innovation Zone Partnership, and Greater Parkland (Kids’ Mental Health Pierce County). Each of these zones specifically engage young people in their communities in defining wellness, identifying areas for improvement, and actioning place-based innovation to directly and indirectly improve individual youth mental wellbeing.

Project Partners:

Webinars

View our most recent webinar below:

Supporting Youth Mental Health: Place-Based Solutions for Thriving Communities

Discover how four innovative, community-driven “youth wellness zones” are using place-based strategies to enhance youth mental health across Washington. Wellness zones are designed based on the specific needs and priorities of the local community and promote tailored interventions and expert guidance in youth mental health to address community-specific challenges. Representatives from each zone participated in a panel discussion around long-term strategies to promote and sustain mental health services in the wellness zones. They shared insights on how these zones will serve as models for community-driven approaches to youth mental health in Washington state.

View all webinars

Reports & Publications

Evaluation Plan: Measuring Short-Term Impact of Youth Wellness Zones

Learn more

CoLab. (2025) Evaluation Plan: Measuring Short-Term Impact of Youth Wellness Zones. Seattle, WA