A Boston-based mental health startup is working with a larger mental health services provider and local school districts to curb the teenage suicide rate.
Charlie Health is a mental health company founded in 2020 that connects adolescents and adults across the country to life-saving mental health treatment. Charlie Health provides mental health services to high school students and adults to provide intensive, virtual first care by treating those individuals who are the most at risk, particularly adolescents, teens, and young adults.
The mental health resource provider is working with Cartwheel, a Boston-based mental health startup founded by social workers, special education teachers, and child psychiatrists that launched in May 2023.
Cartwheel centers around partnering with schools to help build more robust mental health programs to give students rapid mental health treatment.
The partnership is expected to provide over 400,000 students across more than 100 school districts in Cartwheel's network access to higher levels of care with Charlie Health, according to company officials.
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“School districts are excited. It is good to have more options, especially evidence-based options, to meet students where they are,” said Joe English, co-founder and CEO of Cartwheel. “It's also important that our programs are working together on this. It’s a joint effort to serve students in a way that feels cohesive to the family rather than trying to coordinate many different fragmented solutions for the student.”
Online mental health sessions
Both companies' services are almost entirely online via virtual individual and group sessions. "Digitally native" treatment options make it easier for students to access sessions despite busy schedules, according to Caroline Finkel, co-founder and chief clinical officer with Charlie Health.
Charlie Health operates in 37 states across different time zones, making it easier for students with extracurricular commitments to find group sessions that work best for them. By partnering with Cartwheel, Charlie Health can expand its reach to the demographic it sees as most at risk: teens.
“I think that's where our partnership, desire, and dedication to being with Cartwheel came in. We know how important it is to integrate into the school systems, and we know that often the frontline, the first person to see that an individual is struggling like any student is struggling, is the teacher,” said Finkel.
Parent support groups
In addition to programs for students, Charlie Health also has 50 different parent support groups per week. According to Finkel, parent participation is the single largest indicator for positive outcomes, so Charlie Health loops in parents to help them understand how they can best be supportive.
Both programs are available through most major insurance companies. Cartwheel also works closely with its school district partners to build financial aid funds for students without insurance.
The partnership is still new, so neither company has any data about suicide prevention due to the collaboration. However, according to Finkel, 89% of Charlie Health’s clients reported improvements in self-harm and a 74% reduction in suicidal ideation.
Cartwheel says it has seen students get into care 12 - 18 times faster than traditional models of care. 93% of students report improvements in mental health systems, and 90% of parents would recommend Cartwheel to a friend or neighbor.
“I think solutions like Cartwheel and like Charlie Health offer schools the opportunity to both extend their resources and give them a moment to evaluate their systems and structures and see how they need to be reframed or built upon,” said Jillian Kelton, director of learning and engagement at Cartwheel. Before Cartwheel, Kelton spent 22 years with Boston Public Schools, most recently as chief of student support.
