NAACP & UPMC Western Behavioral Health: Together we rise, together we thrive

Together We Rise, Together We Thrive is a new collaboration between NAACP of Pittsburgh and UPMC Western Behavioral Health that seeks to build trust and share resources, breaking barriers that disrupt positive mental health for youth.

This collaboration revisits an earlier success by these same partners in tackling a public health crisis and disparities in services among minorities. In 1968, Freedom House Ambulance Service was established in the Hill District and ultimately revolutionized emergency medical care, serving as a national model, while ensuring that emergency services were provided in the Hill District and beyond.

Today, amid a crisis in youth mental health, NAACP and UPMC Western Behavioral Health are partnering again in the spirit of Freedom House to combat these challenges, focusing on reducing or eliminating the documented disparities in youth mental health outcomes.

High-quality, evidence-based care is less commonly provided to racial and ethnicity minorities compared to White children for several common mental and behavioral health (MBH).... [Children left untreated] in the outpatient setting may be at greater risk of developing a MBH crisis. From 2011 to 2016, ED visits for MBH conditions increased at faster rates for Black and Hispanic children than White children.

Hoffmann, J. A., Alegría, M., Alvarez, K., Anosike, A., Shah, P. P., Simon, K. M., & Lee, L. K. (2022). Disparities in Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health Conditions. Pediatrics, 150(4). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-058227