Here to help youth.

In a given year, 20% of young people experience mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, academic stress, low self-esteem, and substance abuse. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids do not receive the treatment they need. Left untreated, many teens contemplate suicide, the 3rd leading cause of death for young people today. We started CASSY in 2009 to attack this problem and provide the social and emotional support our young people need.

We have proven that when you put competent, compassionate therapists on the school campus, students will come in and get help. In fact, about 20-25% of the entire student body will come in. Some once or twice. Some every week. Being school-based is absolutely the key.

CASSY’s approach is quite simple:

1. Partner with schools that understand and value the importance of mental health to the
   educational process
2. Hire professional, compassionate therapists that love working with youth
3. Set up shop right on campus and integrate the CASSY team with the school’s staff

As a young nonprofit agency, we are both ambitious and pragmatic. We are on a mission to de-stigmatize mental health services and make supporting students’ social and emotional well-being the norm in our local schools. We imagine a world where all kids get the support they need to be successful in school and in life. At the same time, we understand that creating such a utopia will take a serious commitment from our schools, financial support from our communities, and tireless work by our therapists day in and day out.

We do what we do to help address the underlying mental health issues that prevent too many students from reaching their academic potential.