Pace Center in Fort Lauderdale now offering free telehealth service for girls
MIAMI - Plenty of people struggle with stress and declines in their mental health but the experience of middle and high school girls is especially concerning.
According to the latest US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, nearly three in five teen girls said they felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, double that of boys, representing a nearly 60 percent increase and the highest level reported over the past decade.
To help address this, the Pace Center for Girls in Fort Lauderdale has a new pilot program that offers free telehealth for girls.
"Pace really is more so an agency that focuses on healing, the healing aspect, they come here, not only for therapeutic services but also if they get behind in school, it's really a place where they can get back on track," said the Pace centers clinical services program coordinator Orlane Cameran.
At the center, girls get free access to licensed mental health professionals.
"Regardless of their trauma, regardless of their sexual past history, regardless of, you know, human trafficking, regardless of any past history that our girls might have been experiencing, they know when they walk through our doors, they know when they connect with a counselor or therapist, that we have their best interests at heart," said Cameran.
While the in-person counseling program is in high demand, Cameran said she knew there were girls in the community they weren't reaching.
"Poverty is one of the biggest concerns that we do have with some of our girls. So when we think about our initiative, transportation is a huge way to kind of eliminate it," she said.
So they became the first Pace center in the state to start offering online telehealth or 'telepace'. Funding for it was secured by US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The center started online sessions in January
"The response to it in such a short period of time has been great. The referrals are rolling in for girls who might again need the services desperately at no cost but struggle to get here. So thankfully, our message has gotten to the girls who need it," said the Pace Center's Sara Carter.
Weekly teletherapy sessions, lasting six to eight months per girl, are provided at no cost to those ages 11 through 17 in south and west Broward County.
