If you or someone you know is in need of mental health crisis support, text or call the suicide crisis hotline at 988. Services are available in multiple languages, 24/7.

As early as 2021, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners proposed installing a local mental health facility exclusively for youth in need. This project planned to utilize American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds disbursed in conjunction with the Covid-19 Pandemic.

But in 2024, the proposal fell through. 

After the Covid-19 Pandemic, youth-related mental health crises began to skyrocket as a result of many factors, including isolation and the surge of online influence in teens’ lives. According to Appen Media, Forsyth County alone received 3,377 mental health crisis calls between 2021 to 2023. 

The local need for the facility was abundantly clear. As stated by the Forsyth County Department of Communications’ July-December 2021 Progress Report, Georgia ranks 48th out of 50 in mental health care.

The creation of the youth-specific mental health facility was originally part of the County Commissioners’ “Administrative Campus Plan,” a campus which would include services for mental health and other medical issues. Initially, the proposal to allocate $114 million in ARPA funds was approved for the creation of the facility.

There were many locations proposed as to where the facility would have been placed. One was a vacant building on Buford Highway. The building, still under construction, has many vacant spaces and only two businesses currently utilize the space. 

Hope for the facility faded away in mid 2024 when the project was terminated and excluded from the “Administrative Campus Plan,” which was repurposed to  exclusively be a commissioners’ office building.

But the building, which is currently under construction, is being built outside of the county line, and cannot be used as a voting space according to County bylaws, inspiring confusion as to its purpose, and questions about the proper allocation of federal funds. 

Between February and October 2024, the commissioners referred to the fraught planning of the facility as a “cat and mouse game,” inevitably voting to redirect the funds.

Following the vote, the funding was  re-dedicated to repair water pipelines that return treated water from the Fowler Water Reclamation Facility to Lake Lanier.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners officially voted 3-2 to redirect $29.5 million of the ARPA funding during a meeting on  June 11, 2024.

Jessica Fleming, former candidate for Forsyth County School board and local mother of four,  who also works as a journalist and advocate for the facility’s creation, provided personal insight into the situation.

“My oldest [child] is 11, so he is at the age where mental health is an issue, but honestly, mental health is an issue at any age,” said Fleming. “I was surprised by the mental health [issues’] prevalence in our community, so that made me pretty passionate about it when I was campaigning.

In an area that boasts about being so supportive of families and children, repurposing money for a youth mental health facility to improve office space for adults—and unusable office space at that—has raised some eyebrows.

“I was just so disappointed in our leaders and disheartened that they would not vote for something that our community really did need,” Fleming said.

At the beginning of her campaign for FCS School Board, Fleming was approached by the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in April 2024, and asked if she would campaign on the issue, to which she agreed.

Fleming devoted her time to studying the benefits of the facility, understanding the needs of the community and attending mental health-related group discussions led by former Forsyth County commissioner Cindy Mills to better understand the movement. 

When the facility’s plan was terminated, Fleming published an informational Op/Ed article for the Forsyth County News which delved into the issue more intensely. 

The termination of the planned facility was especially saddening to families hoping to have closer access to a youth-only mental health facility, as the closest one is Coastal Harbor Treatment Center in Savannah—five hours away from Forsyth—and rated a 2.4 on Google Reviews. 

Peachford Hospital, which houses adults and children simultaneously, is a nearer facility in Atlanta, but many parents are hesitant to send their children to an all-ages facility. This hospital also rates a 2.0 on Google Reviews. 

Another issue the Forsyth County facility could have addressed, in addition to distance, is the cost of treatment. Many surrounding facilities offer resources and lengthy treatment plans, but these are only affordable for middle to upper class citizens. 

South Forsyth Junior and Co-President of the club Mental Motivation Association, Sarika Jarugumilli, spoke on the topic in regards to students’ need for mental health assistance.  

“As a Co-President of a club centered on mental health awareness, learning that the facility’s planning was terminated was incredibly discouraging,” Jarugumilli said. “So much of our work focuses on encouraging students to speak up, ask for help, and trust that there are systems in place to support them. When a project like this is shut down, it sends the opposite message; that mental health is optional or secondary to ‘real’ issues.”

As of January 2026, the ARPA funding that could have gone to the facility has been reallocated and spent on the water reclamation project; however, the funds taken from the cancelled facility only make up a fraction of the total expenses needed to complete the project.

The Commissioner’s office has yet to inform the public on the actionability of the water reclamation plan. 

Not all hope is lost, however, as many local mental health activists and groups are still advocating for youth-oriented mental health care, and hope that bipartisan grant funding might still secure this much-needed resource. 

“With election season coming up, I think having different elected officials that make mental health a priority, even if it’s not the same building being recreated— the community would love to see effort,” said Fleming. “There are other ways to have mental health resources available.”

Those passionate about this cause can take action themselves to advocate for the mental health of Forsyth County’s children.

“Petitioning legislators, and influencing the school board and commissioners to change their legislative priorities, are great ways to get funding,” said Fleming. “So even though that original money is not available anymore, there are other ways to fund a project like this.”