Team: Crisis Care Connect

School Affiliation: Washington University Olin Business School

Description:

On-Demand tele-therapy for schools and institutions

Problem:

Schools struggle to support the mental well-being of their students in an impactful way, which negatively impacts institutional culture, safety, and long-term outcomes. The mental health crisis disproportionately affects youth, with an estimate of 1 in 7 being impacted by mental illness. While mental health and wellness has become a mainstream priority, urgent access to psychological care remains widely out of reach. Emergency rooms are struggling to meet the demand for pediatric mental health crises, and these patients may wait hours to days to receive acute therapeutic services.

Solution:

Subscription-based service for institutions providing urgent psychological care services via tele-health appointments from qualified mental health professionals. Complete with AI powered accessibility accommodations (including captioning, visit summaries, secure symptom logging & insight guidance).

Market:

The children’s mental health department has reached $31 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6%. The daily cost of boarding patients in the ED is almost double that of inpatient care in 2024, from $993 to $1,856.

TAM: $39.14 billion
SAM: $14940.8 million
SOM: $1494 million

Competition:

Current rapid-response tele-psychiatry services like Access TeleCare, Iris Telehealth, and FasPsych offer services to hospitals and outpatient clinics, not directly to students via their school and university. Non-emergency psychological service apps like BetterHelp and Headspace are frequently offered to students, but lack the intensive support of a qualified mental health professional appointment for acute needs. Crisis Care Connect connects students through their school, in order to meet students virtually wherever they are and with the level of care they need most.

Value Creation:

$7 billion of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding has been spent on mental health programs for schools since the pandemic. However, with federal funding rolling back on these initiatives, schools and universities will likely need to allocate funding to services that can decrease overall staffing needs and externalize mental health care. Our service will help schools to do this while improving the mental health outcomes of students across the US.

The Team:

Mackenzie Cappelle, MD/MBA Candidate 2026

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