Nothing About Us Without Us: Centering Lived-Experience Voices in Pediatric Mental-Health Innovation

What just happened: Sustainable pediatric mental health solutions honor a simple refrain—nothing about us without us—as a governance principle. This week, CalOptima Health offers a example of how this is done as they open a youth-designed mental-health and wellness center in San Juan Capistrano, built with teens and young adults, for teens and young adults (ages 12–25). It’s yet another a concrete signal that youth co-design is moving from aspiration to operational reality in U.S. pediatric systems.

That opening follows CalOptima’s earlier investment to bring an allcove® youth center to Orange County. This endeavor pairs youth voice with an intentionally low-barrier, walk-in model. Local partners (including UCI) highlight free counseling, peer and family support, and community activities in a stigma-reducing space. caloptima.org+1

Co-design isn’t a focus group. It’s governance.

Youth and caregivers should shape priorities, features, safety guardrails, rollout, and continuous improvement; end to end.

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Why co-design is now a business and outcomes imperative

• Faster product–market fit. Recent reviews show co-design with young people is increasingly used in digital mental-health interventions and strengthens relevance and uptake when it’s done well. (McGovern et al., 2025; Malloy et al., 2023; Chinsen et al, 2025).
• Safer, more trusted experiences. Co-production in youth services improves engagement and service quality when structures are real (and not tokenistic). (Jones et al., 2024; Norton, 2021).
• Documented benefits for participants. Youth advisory structures can produce positive psychosocial outcomes for young people when participation is well-scaffolded, compensated, and purposeful. (Casey Family Programs; NYLC).

Pediatric solutions will only last if clinical and adoption rigor move in lockstep with the families who live the challenges in vivo.

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The Clearview blueprint: “Co-Design + Rigor” as one operating loop

1) Stand up a Youth & Family Advisory Council (Y/FAC) with authority.
Publish a charter that grants decision rights on risk language, release readiness, and rollout. Use established practice guides to avoid tokenism (diversity, onboarding, compensation, leadership pathways).

2) Employ pediatric model cards + risk review with every release.
For any AI-enabled or digital product: know and use your target age bands and partner closely youth and clinical experts to ensure strong understanding of developmental considerations, failure modes, and crisis routing. Create channels for youth feedback triggers to prompt rollback or revision.

3) Co-design the service wrapper, not just the app.
Map the lived journey (school → pediatrics → specialty → community) with youth and caregivers. CalOptima’s allcove-style approach shows how environment, walk-in access, and programming cohere when youth lead.

4) Tie every sprint to an adoption metric.
For each release, work closely with your clinical and lived experience stakeholders to select field-real outcome.

5) Close the loop publicly.
Publish “What we heard / what we changed” updates. Link your model card, risk review, and a short equity note on who was and wasn’t at the table this cycle. Transparency is trust currency.

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At Clearview Pediatric Advisors, we help innovators braid lived-experience governance with clinical and operational rigor—so youth mental-health solutions are safer to deploy, easier to adopt, and built to last.