LYNNFIELD — The Massachusetts Center for Adolescent Wellness obtained a state license last month to aid and support adolescents struggling with substance-use disorder and mental-health issues in town.
MCAW is a mental-health outpatient program that supports and provides services to children between the ages of 13 and 17. A Healthy Lynnfield assisted MCAW in the state-licensing process and connected the organization to key people in the community.
AHL was started in 2017 by Select Board member Phil Crawford to address both mental illness and substance-use disorder in the town. According to Crawford, it is one of the areas in the medical field with the biggest gap between the amount of victims and the availability of resources for them, and MCAW is working to fill that gap.
“There are certainly plenty of services available if you’re over 18, it just hasn’t been there for adolescents,” Crawford said. “There is just a big demand from younger residents in town and student-age children for these types of services, and I think they’re going to be very welcome in the town.”
MCAW began to establish its office in Lynnfield almost a year ago when Tiffany Leyne, the director of family and community relations for the center, was invited as the keynote speaker for Crawford’s annual AHL meeting.
Under Leyne, MCAW has been working to offer treatment for adolescents struggling with mental-health disorders, including those who are dually-diagnosed with mental-health and substance-use disorders. According to Leyne, evidence-based therapies are combined with holistic methods to provide the best care for teenagers.
Crawford and Margaret Sallade, the substance use prevention coordinator at AHL, provided what Sallade described as crucial local data to MCAW in order to streamline its establishment in the town.
“AHL recognizes the need for adolescent intensive outpatient services for both substance use and mental health, and were happy to get the word out that MCAW is coming to town as a dual-licensed program,” Sallade said. “We shared information with school counselors and other agencies that might be looking to refer youth to this level of care.”
Crawford believes that AHL and MCAW’s efforts have already begun to show results.
“MCAW gets people from far-away towns because none of these programs are available in the surrounding areas,” Crawford said.
According to Sallade, MCAW’s presence in the town has been a huge boost to creating awareness about teenagers’ experiences with mental health and substance-use disorder.
“AHL is a member of MCAW’s community advisory board, and it’s clear that their leadership is very committed to excellence in service for youth and their families,” Sallade said. “They have been busy ever since they opened. We are glad MCAW chose Lynnfield as a location for their important clinical work.”
