Hope One for Youth specializes in mental health services, education and outreach for children and teens. It is staffed by specialists from the Burlington County Department of Human Services and the Burlington County Municipal Alliance and travels to local schools, youth group meetings, houses of worship and community events to make presentations and distribute age-appropriate materials about mental health, substance use prevention, emotional well-being and stigma reduction.
Burlington County’s Hope One for Youth van is kicking off its third year of operations and is looking for more destinations and events to attend.
Hope One for Youth specializes in mental health services, education and outreach for children and teens. It is staffed by specialists from the Burlington County Department of Human Services and the Burlington County Municipal Alliance and travels to local schools, youth group meetings, houses of worship and community events to make presentations and distribute age-appropriate materials about mental health, substance use prevention, emotional well-being and stigma reduction.
Hope One for Youth began operating in spring 2024. Last year, the unit traveled to 64 events and provided services to more than 6,500 children, teens and adults.
“Mental health is essential to overall health and it impacts all ages,” said Burlington County Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson. “In Burlington County, we recognized that reality and we created Hope One and Hope One for Youth to bring mental health resources and education directly to our communities and schools to help those in need or at-risk where they are. Hope One for Youth has operated for less than two years and has already helped educate thousands of children, teens, parents and teachers, and we expect the van to attend even more events in 2026.”
Hope One for Youth is scheduled for three upcoming school events: Moorestown High School’s L.O.V.E. Fair on Jan. 21; Lenape High School’s Wellness Day on Jan. 23; and Character Building Day at Sacred Heart School in Mount Holly on Jan. 27.
The Hope One for Youth van is seeking additional community and school events throughout the county to attend this winter, spring, summer and fall. It is also available to attend youth group meetings, gatherings or activities, as well as events at houses of worship.
Among the program’s resources are interactive tabletop games, coloring books and presentations designed to teach topics such as conflict resolution, anger management and resiliency. It also has entertaining iPad games and apps focused on mindfulness and logic.
“There’s growing recognition about the significant mental health challenges impacting children and teenagers and the gap in specialized services for these age groups,” said Commissioner Randy Brolo, the new liaison to the Department of Human Services. “Hope One for Youth is working to address that need to help Burlington County children of all ages to better understand mental illnesses, their symptoms, how to get help and how to build greater resilience. The van’s already proven to be a great resource and we’re hoping more Burlington County communities will take advantage of this service in 2026.”
Expansion of Hope One and prevention services
The Hope One for Youth van is an expansion of the Hope One Mobile Outreach Unit run by the Burlington County Sheriff’s Office in partnership with the Burlington County Department of Human Services, County Health Department and staff from Virtua Health, Maryville Addiction Treatment Center and the Deborah Heart and Lung Center. Hope One launched in 2019 and regularly travels to different communities in the county to offer training on overdose antidote use, make referrals to recovery services and provide other resources to individuals and families struggling with substance use disorder or other mental health ailments.
Creating a specialized outreach unit for children and teens was recommended by the Burlington County Regional Advisory Council created to develop plans for how the county can best use its share of opioid epidemic settlement funds from drug manufacturers.
The county also launched and then expanded Camp Cardinal, a free one-day camp program at YMCA of the Pines in Medford exclusively for children who have suffered a loss due to substance use disorder or been impacted by the substance use disorder within their immediate family.
Last year, the commissioners also appropriated $200,000 from the county’s opioid settlement funds to make grants available to all 40 Burlington County municipalities for evidence-based substance use prevention programs.
Organizations, schools or houses of worship interested in hosting the Hope One for Youth van should contact the program’s coordinator Jennifer Wright at (609) 265-5538 or email jlwright@co.burlington.nj.us.
