Progress Report

Phase I

The initial stages of this project prioritized the voices of youth, families, and professionals directly affected by the mental health workforce crisis. Through extensive research and community engagement, five critical challenges emerged as central to the barriers and disruptions within the mental health ecosystem of the St. Louis region.

Key priorities for funding were solidified by a task force of community members and mental health practitioners. They are:

Advocacy and Policy Reform: Supporting change at federal, state, local, and institutional levels.
Debt and Pay Inequities: Addressing financial burdens and ensuring competitive wages and reimbursements for youth mental health professionals.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Promoting culturally responsive care through inclusive policies, practices, and programing.
Pipeline Development: Expanding education, training, and early-career opportunities.
Workforce Mental Wellbeing: Mitigating burnout and attrition to sustain a resilient workforce.

Phase II

The foundation then invited organizations to submit letters of intent (LOIs) which outlined ideas to address or combat these challenges. Up front, VFF stated it would prioritize workforce initiatives that have the greatest potential to:

Increase or safeguard availability of services to under-resourced geographies and populations.
Address gaps in therapeutic modalities, age ranges, languages, or services.
Result in changes to policies, practices, or systems that eliminate barriers to enter the field and/or increase retention of quality providers.

This phase was designed not just to identify projects to support, but to better understand the landscape, elevate community voice, and learn alongside those doing the work every day.

What We Saw Across Submissions

We saw a wide range of important and necessary work and several patterns emerged: Many proposals reflected meaningful efforts already underway in the community, reinforcing both the strength of the ecosystem and the challenge of prioritization within it.
Several proposals focused on expanding direct services, which are essential, but did not always address underlying workforce challenges at a systems level.
Multiple organizations proposed similar approaches or served overlapping populations, requiring difficult decisions within a limited funding environment.
Some ideas demonstrated strong promise but would benefit from further development in long-term sustainability or scalability.
In some cases, it was not yet clear how the proposed work would address root causes or fill a distinct gap in the current ecosystem.

Phase III

We received a significant number of thoughtful and compelling submissions, reflecting both the urgency of this issue and the depth of work already happening in the region.

In striving to ensure our process was equitable and placed community voice at the center of decision making, a public request for LOI reviewers was sent out. This resulted in a group of 15 individuals representing a wide range of professional, personal, and lived experiences. This diversity of perspective was intentional and central to the process.

The review process included:

Each application being reviewed by individuals with a varied range of experiences and expertise.
Open access for reviewers to ask questions, provide feedback, and engage across submissions.
A shared evaluation framework focused on long-term impact, systems change, and alignment with community need.
Both quantitative scoring and qualitative input, including narrative responses and open discussion.

We intentionally did not evaluate proposals based on writing style or access to grant writing resources, but rather on the core of the project idea and its potential for impacting the lives of young people in St. Louis.

It is important to note that there was rarely universal agreement among reviewers. We view this not as a limitation, but as a reflection of the range of perspectives intentionally built into the process.

Community Convening and Deeper Dialogue

As the review process progressed, there was a strong desire among the task force and reviewers for deeper dialogue and shared learning. In March 2026, VFF convened task force members and reviewers in St. Louis for a one day working session. Through both large-group discussion and small-group dialogue, participants:

Reflected on initial task force findings.
Engaged directly with themes emerging from submitted proposals.
Explored areas of alignment, tension, and opportunity across the ecosystem.
Provided feedback to components of certain proposal ideas.

This convening raised new questions, markers, experiences and viewpoints to consider, affirmed key priorities, and expanded the foundation’s understanding of both the challenges and opportunities within the field. It also reinforced the importance of continuing to hold space for multiple perspectives as decisions are made.

What We Heard from the Community:

Through conversations, community meetings, and submitted proposals, several themes consistently emerged:

The importance of building a stronger pipeline, including earlier exposure to mental health careers and more accessible entry points.
The need to support individuals across the full career pathway—from training to retention to advancement.
A growing recognition that system-level collaboration may be more impactful than isolated programs.
The value of trusted, community-rooted organizations, and the importance of authentic relationships—not just formal partnerships.
The reality that retention challenges are deeply tied to burnout, compensation, and structural barriers.

These insights helped shape not only how proposals were evaluated, but how we continue to refine this work.

How Our Thinking Evolved

One of the most important outcomes of this phase was a clearer understanding that not all proposals should be evaluated in the same way.

Through this process, three general categories emerged:

Systems Change – efforts that aim to shift policies, structures, or coordinated approaches across the ecosystem.
Gap-Filling Initiatives – programs designed to address clearly defined unmet needs or underserved populations.
Internal Capacity Building – investments that strengthen an organization's ability to deliver, sustian, or scale its work, with the potential for broader ripple effects across the ecosystem.

This framework allows for more meaningful comparisons across similar types of work, while also supporting a more intentional approach to how resources are considered across the broader system.

What’s Next (Phase IV and beyond)

We are currently moving into the next phase of this initiative.

A subset of organizations will be invited to share additional information as we continue to explore opportunities for support.

This next phase will focus on:

Deepening our understanding of proposed approaches.
Exploring opportunities for alignment, partnership, or coordination across efforts.
Continuing to incorporate community perspective into decision-making.
Beginning to make initial funding decisions.

We recognize that many strong ideas will not move forward in this phase. Our goal is that this process contributes to a stronger, more connected ecosystem over time, and that this is not the end of engagement with many of the organizations involved.

Our commitment to flexibility and responsiveness remains central to this work. We recognize the need to hold the tension between urgency and diligence. At the same time, the broader funding landscape continues to shift, creating uncertainty for many organizations. Balancing these realities—while remaining mindful of capacity, context, and our role within the system—will continue to guide our approach.

Our Gratitude

We are deeply grateful to every organization and individual that took the time to share their work, ideas, and commitment to young people in our region. One of the clearest through-lines in this process has been the level of dedication across the field and a shared willingness to pursue meaningful, lasting solutions.

This initiative is only one part of a much larger ecosystem with many incredible people and organizations, and we recognize that real progress will come through the collective work of many.

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