EL MONTE — For a teenager struggling with anxiety, grief, problems at home or feeling overwhelmed, asking for help can be difficult.
The new EMUHSD Mental Health Coordinator helps connect those students with support as El Monte Union High School District expands access to mental health services. The district named Ritchie Meza to the position, bringing more than a decade of experience supporting students and families.
Meza previously worked as a licensed clinical social worker serving Lynwood and Vista high schools, according to Lynwood Unified School District. His background includes school-based mental health services, crisis intervention and social-emotional support.
His appointment comes as regional and statewide data show that many teenagers face significant emotional challenges.
A Los Angeles County Department of Public Health community health assessment found that 31% of Greater San Gabriel Valley teens reported chronic sadness or hopelessness while also feeling they needed emotional or mental health help during the previous 12 months.
Statewide California Healthy Kids Survey results show a similar pattern. In 2021-23, 35% of ninth-graders and 39% of 11th-graders reported chronic sadness.
About 16% of ninth-graders and 15% of 11th-graders also reported seriously considering suicide during the previous year.
EMUHSD Mental Health Coordinator Connects Support
Those figures are not clinical diagnoses. Experiencing sadness does not necessarily mean a student has depression or requires clinical treatment. Still, the findings show that many students struggle enough to need support even when that support does not involve clinical treatment.
The data instead illustrate the emotional challenges schools encounter while educating teenagers. They also show why identifying students who need greater support has become part of the work on high school campuses.
For students, that support often begins with an adult noticing that something has changed.
A teacher might see a normally engaged student becoming withdrawn. A counselor might learn that falling grades are connected to problems at home. A student might visit a wellness center because of stress and learn that other help is available.
The challenge is connecting those individual encounters with appropriate resources.
Meza coordinates mental health services across the district, including programs that connect students and families with school-based and outside resources. His role also includes overseeing efforts tied to expanded clinical services and Medi-Cal enrollment.
Wellness Centers Provide Campus Access
Meza joins a student-support system that already includes counseling and wellness resources across El Monte Union campuses.
The district’s Student Wellness Centers give students access to mental health support, community resources and other services. They also provide a place where students can seek help during the school day.
School-based support reduces some barriers that separate young people from services. Instead of requiring families to begin by locating an outside provider, students can start a conversation with a counselor, social worker or trusted adult at school.
The need does not always begin with a crisis. Sometimes a student has trouble sleeping, falls behind academically, withdraws from friends or struggles with changes at home. Earlier support connects students with appropriate resources before difficulties become more serious. For students who need more intensive services, coordinated referrals provide a path from campus-based support to outside care.
The EMUHSD Mental Health Coordinator position strengthens the connection between students and the district’s existing network of support.
For the District, the regional statistics provide context for why that work matters. Behind each percentage are heartbeats, hopes, and dreams balancing emotional challenges with classes, relationships and plans.
For schools, the answer is making support accessible before a student is ready to ask for it.
