Florence Crittenton focuses on teen mothers amid worst mental health decline in decade

Mental health is taking a toll on Colorado youth, especially when it comes to teen girls and for one Denver school, the concern is double. Florence Crittenton serves teen mothers. While the odds are stacked against the students, staff there showed CBS News Colorado how the services are working to set them up for success.

"You really do see them progress through their adolescence in a normal way that people mature in tangent with their child or baby. It's really special," said Elizabeth Madrid, a Denver Health Provider.

Elizabeth is a Physician's Assistant for Denver Health and works full-time at a clinic, attached to Florence Crittenton. It's one of 19 school-based clinics Denver Health has embedded in Denver Public Schools and provides a wide range of services for the students and their children.

"I'll see anything from sick babies to doing physicals on kids and giving shots. We do a lot of family planning, pre and post-natal care, we have a dental hygienist."

The list goes on. For the students, it eliminates a wide array of concerns so they can focus on school.

"I don't think I would be graduating this year if this wasn't here," said Sunshine Maez, a senior at Florence Crittenton.

Sunshine enrolled at Florence Crittenton when she was just 14 years old. At the time, she was five months pregnant.

"So I didn't get to have a teenager life but I've enjoyed growing up with her," she said.

"A lot of times these young women have already been through a lot of trauma already in their lives and so they're coming almost broken," said Madrid.

Madrid specializes in pediatric care and knows on top of that, the stigma of teen pregnancy is mentally taxing.

A recent CDC report found teenage girls are in the midst of the worst mental health decline in a decade, with nearly a third reporting they've seriously considered taking their lives.

Sunshine is one of the many students at Flo Crit who will not be part of those statistics.

"This school and this clinic it's amazing," she said.

Her daughter Violet, now 2 ½, gets free daycare next door and one more building over, is where both receive primary care.

"We call it a two-generation approach where you're kind of affecting the lives of both the mother and her young child and the clinic just continues that by making sure they're getting the preventative care that they need and all the wellness services," said Madrid.

It's changed Sunshine's outlook completely. The 17-year-old is set to graduate this year and hopes to work in early childhood education.

"Your life does change a lot but at the same time, it changed for the better," she said.