PHILADELPHIA — The Cigna Group Foundation has announced the distribution of approximately $3 million in grants to 22 nonprofit organizations dedicated to addressing the youth mental health crisis. This initial round of funding is part of a broader $9 million commitment over the next three years aimed at supporting mental health initiatives for young people.
The grants are directed at organizations across ten states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. Among the recipients are Mindfulness First, McCall Foundation, Children’s Bereavement Center, Wings for Kids, Lion’s Pride Mentoring, New London Counseling Center, Conexión Américas, and Planting Seeds. For about half of these organizations, this marks their first funding from Cigna.
Suzanne Klotz, president of The Cigna Group Foundation, highlighted the foundation’s data-driven approach to philanthropy. “We prioritize a data-led approach for all our philanthropic efforts, so The Cigna Group Foundation awards grants in regions where we have a significant number of customers with high and very high social determinants of health risks, as well as where we have a concentration of employees,” Klotz said in an email.
The grant program, focused on addressing post-pandemic stress among youth aged 5 to 18, has three main objectives for its first year:
Broaden the Impact: Enhance initiatives that promote social-emotional skills and well-being.
Strengthen Support Systems: Increase the capacity of parents, caregivers, and youth service professionals to provide effective support.
Improve Access: Expand access to mental health interventions and care.
The pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues among youth, with research from Evernorth Health Services showing a 28% increase in mental health diagnoses and a 48% rise in those with multiple diagnoses since 2018. Additionally, around 40% of youths with a mental health diagnosis did not receive care within the first six months.
“Four years later, we continue to see the critical need for both identification and treatment of mental health conditions, which now includes the impact the pandemic may have had on many youth. … The impact we want to make cannot be achieved alone. To help us deliver on our commitments, we’re partnering with innovative nonprofit organizations that already have the connections and capabilities to make real change through offering more programs, services, and resources in local communities,” Klotz added.
As part of this initiative, Cigna is also partnering with the Boys & Girls Club of America to create a teen mental health guide funded by Cigna.
The $9 million youth mental health initiative is part of a larger $27 million three-year commitment announced in April. This commitment also includes the Cigna Group Health Equity Impact Fund, which will distribute $9 million over three years to address health disparities in local communities, starting with Houston, Texas, and Hartford, Connecticut. Additionally, Cigna is focusing on veteran mental health as part of this broader effort.
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