In 2021, in the midst of the post-pandemic normalization process, the Barcelona City Council consulted young people about their main concerns. The results were overwhelming: mental health, education, and emancipation. Although services such as Aquí t'escoltem and Konsulta'm already existed, the data collected—such as those from the FRESC Survey and the Barcelona Health Survey—showed an increase in youth emotional distress. Faced with this reality, the council decided to reinforce and expand these services to guarantee universal access to emotional well-being and youth mental health.
Now, the City Council has redoubled this commitment with the launch of EstarB, a free service that offers psychological and emotional support for young people aged 12 to 25, without the need for a prior appointment. In this new service, which unifies the two previous ones, free individual advice and attention are offered to young people in the city and also to their families from proximity and confidentiality, with the aim of destigmatizing emotional well-being and mental health. "With this new service, we expand the hours of attention and the professionals to serve more users," assures the director of Services for Children, Youth, and the Elderly, Magdalena Orozco. The main idea of EstarB is "to put young people at the center and offer them everything they need related to emotional well-being and mental health," adds Pilar Pascual, head of the Youth Department of the City Council.
Starting from this main idea, EstarB is an accessible gateway to the "circuit of prevention and treatment of mental health" with a strong focus on accompanying young people in Barcelona, adds Pascual. That is why the service is present in all 10 districts of the city, with a total of 21 points of attention distributed among the different youth centers and spaces and civic centers where users can be accompanied.
With this integration, in addition, young people gain free weekly hours of attention, both psychological and from social educators, a better connection with public health treatment resources, according to the needs of each person, and access to better coordination among professionals, with joint assessment spaces to which the Emotional and Community Well-being Referents (RBEC) will join starting next January. "The objective of the new service is to respond to young people to help their growth and offer tools in this transition stage towards adult life," points out Mònica Mondejar, technician of the Youth Department of the Barcelona City Council.
How does EstarB work?
The operation of this new service is very similar to what ATE and Konsulta'm offered until now, but unifying efforts. First, young people who need it must go ---with or without an appointment--- to one of the points where the service is present, where they will come into contact with a social educator who will welcome them. You can also contact the service via WhatsApp by sending a message to 619 006 974, or call 932 563 560. Another way to contact EstarB is through the emails: estarbjoves@bcn.cat ---for young people--- and estarbfamilies@bcn.cat, for families.
From here, EstarB professionals will accompany them at all times and guide them to the service they need. This service includes everything from psychological care sessions to referral to specialized services. In addition, support and resources will also be offered to families with adolescent children, aged 12 to 20, and to professionals who work with adolescents and young people. In total, EstarB offers 84 hours of weekly educational care and 220 hours of weekly psychological care for young people throughout the city.
In short, EstarB represents an increase in efforts by the City Council to universalize access to mental health for young people, as they cannot always access it. In addition, the service aims to offer tools, support, and accompaniment in a stage of changes such as adolescence and youth. "We offer comprehensive care to young people in terms of emotional well-being and mental health," Pascual and Mondejar conclude, reflecting on the new EstarB.
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