Evaluation Plan: Measuring Short-

Term Impact of Youth Wellness Zones

A picture of a class of students in poses. There is two rows of students, one in the back standing and the other in front of them kneeing and/or sitting down. Some of the students' faces are censored with a smiling face sticker. — Photo courtesy of Renton Innovation Zone Partnership

GOAL

To share our findings from interviews with Youth Wellness Zone site leadership about the most effective metrics to evaluate the impact of their programs, as well as best the sources and approaches to obtain that information.

Background

In 2023, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published data indicating nearly 6 million children and adolescents struggle with anxiety, almost 3 million suffer from depression, and 5.5 million experience behavioral health challenges in the United States alone (CDC, 2023). However, workforce shortages, distrust in formal treatment systems, and issues with accessibility to care leave more than half of these young people without appropriate treatment. The shortcomings of current infrastructures and systems highlight the need to consider new strategies to address the youth mental health crisis. A statewide partnership generously funded by a Washington state legislative proviso has coalesced to measure the effectiveness of a community-based, collective-impact approach (Youth Wellness Zones), in creating positive change in youth mental wellbeing.

The state-funded partnership will advance knowledge regarding whether and how Youth Wellness Zones (YWZs) can improve mental health and wellness alongside traditional treatment models. The project aims to generate actionable insights that could inform future policy and promote the use of similar place-based, collective-impact strategies for improving youth mental health.