A collaboration between CommUnity Crisis Center, United Action for Youth, and Johnson County has resulted in a new mental health service opening for troubled youth in the area.
The Healing Prairie Farm opened earlier this year with partial use; its runaway and homeless shelter has been open since March. However, the service only recently opened the rest of its 12 beds for use.
Two area nonprofits, CommUnity Crisis Center, sponsor of a mobile food pantry and crisis services in Johnson County, and United Action for Youth, a youth advocacy group, came together to build the farm on land purchased with the assistance of Johnson County.
CommUnity Chief Executive Officer Sarah Nelson said the farm’s services are free to parents, and the focus is instead on kids getting the care they need quickly.
“For kids that need a mental health intervention, it can be done without the kids needing to be in the hospital,” she said.
Nelson said the farm helps the troubled youth receive a mental health checkup within 24 hours, a service they are happy to offer as opposed to the weeks-long waitlists most mental health professionals have in the area.
In addition to the mental health evaluation, Nelson said the farm offers various scheduled therapeutic opportunities. The kids, who Nelson said are typically 14- to 18-years-old, can interact with the farm animals, art, music, and recreation.
However, Nelson said that activities and therapies vary based on what the youth needs.
“Sometimes what kids need when they come to us is space,” she said. “We don’t stack their schedule full, but we are intentional about every interaction being about that youth experiencing something positive.”
Nelson said the farm so far has had a positive impact on the youth who need its services.
“We’ve had kids who run away after discharge, and the first place they call is the farm,” she said. “I’ve never seen a kid call back to the youth shelter. It has really helped to make kids feel safe.”
The other organization, subcontracted by CommUnity, was United Action for Youth. The organization advocates for troubled youth and is the source of the mental health resources and supportive programming at the farm. Outside Healing Prairie, United Action for Youth offers counseling and other therapeutic programs.
Executive Director at United Action for Youth Talia Meidlinger said the COVID-19 pandemic has residual impacts on youth mental health.
“After COVID, everything returned to normal, and we were all dropped back into everyday stuff,” she said. “All of the expectations are right in your face, and nothing has changed. I think it just brought a lot of young people and adults to a boiling point.”
Meidlinger said she is in close contact with Nelson of CommUnity Crisis Center and both have been conceptualizing a means of addressing mental health issues in youth for some time.
She said the idea behind the farm was to pull kids who had issues out of stressful situations and allow them to connect with peers, nature, and themselves in a non-stressful environment.
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As the farm concept became clearer and work began, Meidlinger said her and Nelson’s goals were beginning to be realized.
“It was so clear that this was the vision that Sarah and I had talked about,” Medilinger said.
Meidlinger said the farm has run well, despite a few expected bumps in the road, since it opened to full capacity. She is glad to see the organization growing and making more inter-organizational connections to further provide for the youth.
“It’s been a beautiful collaborative process, and I feel like we’ve done a really good job supporting youth who have been out there,” she said.
Johnson County has a continued interest in the welfare of youth in the county. Not only did they provide the cash for CommUnity to purchase and renovate the Healing Prairie property, but they also actively support juvenile court and justice prevention programs, Johnson County Youth and Family Services Manager Laurie Nash said.
Nash said that services like the Healing Prairie Farm are essential in the care process so that troubled youth can receive proper care instead of being institutionalized. In other words, the work the county is doing is preventative.
“They’re able to get some support for some emotional self-regulation and [it] helps them be a part of the community,” Nash said.