How The Program Works

Making A Referral

If you would like to contact one of our Second Wind Fund Affiliate Programs to make a referral for a youth in your community, below is the list of Affiliates, the communities they cover and the referral line.

Areas served by Second Wind Fund:

Metro Denver - 303.988.2645
(Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver,Douglas, Jefferson, Park counties)

Boulder County - 720.212.1527
(City and County of Boulder)

Eagle River Valley - 303.988.2645
(Gypsum, Avon, Edwards, Wolcott, Eagle, Vail, Beaver Creek, Minturn and Basalt)

El Paso and Teller County - 719.322.2839
(El Paso and Teller county areas)

Four Corners Colorado - 970.946.9586
(La Plata and Montezuma counties)

Eligibility Requirements

In order to be considered for a referral by the SWF, an individual must be 19 or under, at risk for sucide and be uninsured or under-insured for mental health services (and not on Medicaid). In a community that has a Second Wind Fund Affiliate program, a qualified referral source (i.e., school counselor, teacher, coach, faith leader, youth leader) concerned about a student would engage in the following process:

  1. A qualified referral source (QRS) deems a student at least moderately “at risk” for suicide and the student’s family does not have financial means (including adequate insurance) to pay for professional therapy. The QRS contacts the SWF Affiliate Program in their community.

  2. After ensuring that the youth is a suicide risk, lacks financial means to pay for therapy, and is not on Medicaid, the SWF Affiliate assigns the student a referral number. If the student is on Medicaid, he or she is first referred to the county mental health association.

  3. The QRS initiates a referral with parental permission. After receiving a SWF referral number, the QRS writes the referral number on a program referral form, signs the form, and gives it to the student and/or parents.

  4. The referred student is given the referral form and a list of private therapists who have agreed to see SWF clients.

  5. All therapists in the SWF program are private therapists who are licensed, maintain malpractice insurance, have experience with teens at risk for suicide, and have agreed to see SWF clients at a drastically reduced hourly rate.

  6. SWF will pay for a student to visit a program therapist. Five visits are automatically approved at the time of the initial referral. More visits require additional information.

State officials and private therapists note that, to the best of their knowledge, our program’s structure is unique. We receive requests to duplicate services and expand the program from communities throughout the United States.

Second Wind Fund, Inc. Affiliate Providers

Therapists in the Second Wind Fund network are intensely screened and monitored and must have expertise in adolescent mental health. To become a part of the SWF network, a therapist must agree to work at a significantly reduced rate for counseling Second Wind Fund's youth clients.

Unlike other programs where therapists donate their time or wait for government or insurance payment and are therefore less likely to wish to take on the additional patient load, an approved Second Wind therapist is paid in a timely fashion directly by their Second Wind Fund Affiliate.

Become A SWF Provider

If you are interested in becoming a provider for Second Wind Fund or an Affiliate Program, please contact that Affiliate directly or call Second Wind Fund 303.988.5870.