Behavioral Health Initiative
In the summer of 2021, the Community Foundation sought to better understand the behavioral health needs of our community. As a result, FSG was hired, a global nonprofit consulting firm that partners with foundations and corporations to create equitable systems change. Under FSG’s guidance, the behavioral health needs survey was conducted in partnership with PRC and the Katz Amsterdam Foundation.
In November 2021, the data from the survey was analyzed and an action plan with recommendations was provided to the community. From winter to early spring of 2022, the Steering Committee started working towards the recommendations and formalized the Teton Behavioral Health Alliance. The backbone leader started in September 2022.
The Need
The 2021 Teton County Behavioral Health Report utilized survey data from over 1,000 Teton County residents to illustrate the deep level of need in our community.
- Nearly half (48%) of community members and over half (54%) of behavioral health service providers report that their mental health has worsened since the beginning of the pandemic
- Over half (55%) of the community reported it was not easy to talk about mental health
- Community members report on average that their mental health was not good for one week (6.8 days) of the past month; higher than both the most recent national average (4.3 days in 2019) and the most recent Teton County average (3.3 days in 2018)
- Over half of people in Teton County report being lonely, significantly higher than the national average before the pandemic (24%)
- Teton County has the highest rate of excessive drinking in Wyoming (44%), and is significantly above the national average (27%)
- One in every two men in Teton County, regardless of race or ethnicity, reported drinking excessively
- 40% of community members (almost double the national average) report being negatively affected by their own or someone else’s substance use
- Crisis calls in 2021 included calls regarding suicidal ideation in community members as young as 9 years old
- Ability to access care is more challenging across specific populations: 28% of people age 65+, 31% of Latine community members, 41% of LGBQ+/gender-diverse individuals, and 56% of people with very low incomes were unable to get the behavioral health services they needed
- About one-third (31%) of the community cites cost as the main reason for not getting behavioral health services. Over half (58%) of the Latine community and 54% of people with very low incomes have no insurance to cover behavioral health treatment
Teton Behavioral Health Alliance at Work
The Teton Behavioral Health Alliance applies the collective impact model to improve the behavioral health care system in Teton County, Wyoming. Collective impact is a framework that is used to solve complex problems. It requires a high-level of collaboration among cross-sectoral stakeholders who are committed to a shared agenda and the desired outcome of achieving population and systems-level changes. As such, the Teton Behavioral Health Alliance facilitates community-wide actions that enhance prevention, treatment, and crisis response efforts while addressing the gaps and inequities in the system to benefit all who live and work in Teton County.
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