Youth MOVE Massachusetts Newsletter

Youth MOVE Massachusetts is a program of the Parent/Professional Advocacy League

April 27th, 2026 | Issue 19

Department of Mental Health Rental Subsidy Program

Written by YMM's Youth Peer Specialist, Ashley Smith

My name is Ashley, and I am a client of the Department of Mental Health.

I have been involved with DMH for about 7 years now, beginning when I was 16 years old. At that time, I had a long inpatient stay that lasted nearly four months, leading to the determination that I required a higher level of care. The hospital identified an Intensive Residential Treatment Program at a state hospital operated under DMH as the appropriate next step. In order to go there, I needed to be connected with DMH services. And so, my journey through the system began.

I spent 10 months in that placement, followed by placements in several other programs - some operated by DMH, some by the Department of Children and Families - as well as a few additional inpatient stays along the way. During that time, I was moved between placements abruptly and often with little notice. I rarely had a say in those decisions, and there was never a clear transition plan guiding where I would go next or how those moves were supposed to support my long-term stability. Instead, placements often felt reactive, driven by whatever bed in whatever program happened to be available at the time.

When I turned 18, I remained a DMH client. At that point, I had moved into a pre-independent living group home operated by a Community Service Agency for young adults ages 17 to 24. The purpose of this program was to help residents develop the skills necessary for independent living and reach a level of stability that would allow them to move into an apartment leased by the program.

In that apartment, residents still have access to all of the program’s services. Staff continue to meet with residents regularly and check in to make sure they are doing well. For many of us, the next step after succeeding there is to obtain our own apartment using a tenant-based voucher through the Department of Mental Health Rental Subsidy Program, or DMHRSP.

That is where my progress stopped.

And it did not stop because of my mental health. It did not stop because I struggled with independent living.

It stopped because of budget decisions...

Take Action!

Young Adult Resources: Massachusetts Appleseed Homeless Youth Handbook

Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice has created an easy-to-use resource for youth to help them navigate topics such as education, housing and leases, employment, immigration, health care, and so much more!

Homeless Youth Handbook

Social Media Spotlight

Check out this special social media highlight! Unfiltered Healing for Teens is a YouTube channel offering a space for teens navigating mental health challenges, chronic illnesses, and disabilities, without sugarcoating the hard parts. This channel is about real conversations, real struggles, and real growth. We talk about trauma, therapy, medications, medical mysteries, flare days, school stress, and everything in between.

Mental Health Mini Activity

Frozen Tangerine/Frozen Washcloth

Frozen tangerines and frozen washcloths are easy-to-make tools for coping with intense emotions or urges. Using these items taps into sensory grounding techniques, which can help bring you back to the present moment when you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or emotionally dysregulated. All you need to do for this activity is simply wet a washcloth, crumple it up, and place it in the freezer, or freeze a tangerine. Once they are completely frozen, you can pull them out to use. Their cold temperature helps ground your body and “shock” your system out of the intense emotions you are feeling. Physiologically, cold exposure stimulates your body’s stress response in a controlled way, helping to regulate your nervous system and reduce emotional arousal. Once you have these out of the freezer, focus on uncrumpling the washcloth or peeling the tangerine, paying attention to the cold sensation in your hands. As the tangerine defrosts, its scent adds another layer of sensory grounding. This technique can also be particularly effective for coping with self-harm urges by providing a non-harmful but uncomfortable physical sensation to focus on.

Shoutouts!

YMM's Youth Peer Specialist, Ashley Smith, was invited to speak at the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health's briefing on the Department of Mental Health's Rental Subsidy Program (DMHRSP). Youth MOVE Massachusetts was honored to attend and support Ashley as she spoke about the experience of young adults who lost their rental subsidy voucher after the program was level-funded. Learn more about the DMHRSP here.