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Health-district CEO highlights All Cove youth services and rising youth mental-health indicators
Summary
Tom Backley, CEO of the Beach Cities Health District, described All Cove (a youth mental-health facility offering same-day therapy and peer specialists at no cost) and warned of rising suicide ideation and substance-use indicators among young people while outlining partnerships and funding efforts.
Tom Backley, CEO of the Beach Cities Health District, told the Chamber that local public-health work emphasizes mental-health supports for youth and services for older adults.
Backley said the health district’s All Cove program has served more than 11,000 youth in a little over two years, with roughly 15% of those receiving some service and 15% of users from Manhattan Beach. He said All Cove provides same-day access to therapists and peer specialists at no cost under a state grant and that the district is seeking additional grant and charitable support to expand or relocate services as needed.
The CEO flagged worrying youth mental-health indicators: he said survey data show suicide ideation among seventh- and ninth-graders at rates that “scare us” and described alcohol use among adults as about 60% higher than the state average. Backley urged families, neighbors and educators to connect youth in need with All Cove and summarized support services for older adults delivered through the district’s social-work teams.
Why it matters: Rising youth mental-health needs and gaps in timely care are regional concerns; the district’s All Cove program offers rapid assessment and referrals but relies on continued grant funding and partnerships to maintain services.
Next steps: Backley said the district will pursue state grants, charitable giving and partner sites (including AdventurePlex or the old South Bay Hospital campus) to stabilize and expand All Cove services and is exploring a PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) provider for older-adult services.
Source attribution: Facts and quotes reflect Tom Backley’s remarks to the Chamber; statistics were presented by the health-district CEO and his staff.
