For the last 30 years, Youth-Connect operated inside Boston Police Department stations as a program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, quietly building one of the city’s most unusual partnerships between law enforcement and mental health care. On July 1, that program became an independent nonprofit — a shift its leaders say will deepen, not disrupt, the work.

“Becoming an independent organization [and] nonprofit actually allows us to expand our specialized mission,” said Kevan Barton, executive director of YouthConnect.

The organization’s work is built around a simple but rare model: licensed clinical social workers embedded in Boston police district stations, working alongside officers to reach young people and families at some of the most difficult moments in their lives.

What started with a single social worker in one station has grown to a presence across 10 district stations and citywide units, with a network of more than 275 community partners. The organization serves youth between ages 10 and 24 whom officers flag as needing support — not after a crisis has passed, but often in its immediate aftermath.

The staff works with police and community organizations to provide mental health examinations and counseling to youth who face safety concerns for themselves or others. Sometimes these patients have experienced post-traumatic stress syndrome or exhibit other mental health behaviors, which is when social workers step in.

The need is significant. An estimated 65-70% of youth involved in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental health condition, according to YouthConnect, and many of their families face steep barriers to consistent care. One of the most deliberate choices the organization has made to address that gap is declining to bill insurance.

“Our biggest driving point is that we do not accept insurance, which means that that lessens the barriers to helping these families,” said Shakina Coplin, a Roxbury native and clinical social worker embedded at the Roxbury Police Station.

Families can stay on Youth- Connect’s caseload anywhere from six months to a year or longer without the constraints that insurance mandates typically impose, she said. “Sometimes we really watch our clients grow up because of the fact that we don’t accept insurance.”

Barton said operating outside that system gives YouthConnect’s clinicians room to build something insurance timelines rarely allow for: trust. For him, the work carries a personal weight.

The impact of growing up with an incarcerated parent — and the ripples of that absence — has shaped how he thinks about YouthConnect’s purpose.

“If I can help to change the trajectory of just one young person’s life, I know that that’s actually changing the trajectory of an entire neighborhood and community,” Barton said.

Being located inside a police station, Coplin said, allows her to meet young people at their most vulnerable moments — sometimes the instant they walk through the door — while giving officers a close-up view of trauma-informed care in action.

“We get to provide them with that education about how trauma impacts the body, and how it can lead to certain behavior manifestations,” she said. That visibility, she added, helps officers connect differently with the community once they’re back out on patrol.

Barton said YouthConnect’s new independent nonprofit status won’t change the day-to-day services families rely on. Free clinical support, case management and wraparound resources will continue exactly as before.

What will change is Youth- Connect’s ability to pursue mission-aligned funding, build its own identity and deepen partnerships that were sometimes constrained by shared branding with a larger organization.

The relationship with Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston isn’t ending, Barton emphasized; it’s becoming one partnership among many.

Funding going forward will continue to come from a mix of private philanthropy, city and state government support, individual donors and signature fundraisers, including the recent Unity Games and an annual partnership breakfast scheduled for Nov. 5.

Both Barton and Coplin said success looks different for every family they work with — sometimes it’s a teenager reenrolling in school; sometimes it’s a family finding stable housing; sometimes it’s simply a young person having one adult outside their family they trust enough to talk to.

“It’s those small wins that keep us going,” Coplin said.

Barton put it in broader terms. “Every young person deserves to know that they matter,” he said. “Every young person deserves to know that their narrative does not end.”