WHAS Crusade for Children gives OneQuest Health $23,000 for rural youth therapy

OneQuest Health received a three-year, $23,000 grant from the WHAS Crusade for Children to expand therapy and telehealth for teens in rural Northern Bluegrass counties. The funding targets a gap in youth mental health care in Carroll, Grant and Owen counties, where provider shortages make access especially difficult.

Why it matters: - The grant is aimed at giving rural teenagers faster access to mental health care in a region where families often face long travel times or no local options at all. - The funding supports therapy and telehealth for youth ages 12 to 17 in Carroll, Grant, Owen and adjacent counties. - The effort comes as schools and emergency departments report more young people in acute mental health crises. - Early intervention can help reduce the long-term effects of untreated behavioral health and substance use disorders.

What happened: - The WHAS Crusade for Children awarded OneQuest Health a three-year, $23,000 grant. - The grant was announced July 1, 2026, in Covington, Kentucky. - OneQuest Health will use the money to expand direct therapy and telehealth services for rural youth in the Northern Bluegrass region. - The organization was formerly known as CHNK Behavioral Health.

The details: - Rick Wurth, CEO of OneQuest Health, said 3.4 million Kentuckians live in an area with a shortage of mental health providers. - County Health Rankings & Roadmaps data cited in the release shows the national average is one mental health provider for 290 residents. - The same data shows much wider gaps in nearby rural counties: Carroll County has one provider for every 1,360 residents, Grant County one for every 1,150 residents, and Owen County one for every 2,860 residents. - OneQuest Health has opened the Griffin Outpatient Center in Williamstown and embedded school-based services across regional districts. - OneQuest Health also plans to open its first outpatient mental health office in Louisville on July 8 at the Medical Arts Center, 1169 Eastern Parkway. - The rural grant is earmarked specifically for therapy and telehealth in the Northern Bluegrass counties. - OneQuest Health says its broader safety-net network helps low-income, uninsured and Medicaid-reliant families across Kentucky. - The organization says it is on track in fiscal 2026 to deliver 50,000 treatment services and reach 7,000 clients across Kentucky and parts of Ohio and Indiana. - More information is available at OneQuest Health.

Between the lines: - The grant is modest in size, but it targets a high-need access problem where even basic provider coverage is thin. - OneQuest Health is pairing rural expansion with a broader statewide footprint, suggesting a strategy to build a regional behavioral health network rather than a single-site program. - The focus on telehealth signals an attempt to reduce geography as a barrier, which matters most in counties with the fewest local providers.

What's next: - OneQuest Health will deploy the grant to expand rural youth therapy and telehealth services over the next three years. - The Louisville office opening on July 8 will add another outpatient access point for Jefferson County and nearby communities. - The organization’s broader growth suggests continued expansion of outpatient and school-based behavioral health services across Kentucky.