Restless Development India  is putting young people in charge of mental health and queer-affirmative change in Dakshinpuri, Delhi.

QUTWE : Queer-affirmative Unicorns Transforming Wellbeing Ecosystem

Young people turned silence into community.

In Dakshinpuri, Delhi, trained young people built a mental health and queer-affirmative support ecosystem with one central aim: bringing parents and their children closer together. In 18 months, stigma fell, resilience nearly doubled, and over 700 youth and parents were reached.

+16%increase in mental health literacy
700+young people and parents reached
35%of youth reached were trans or queer
x2near doubling of high-resilience youth
↓  Explore the full story
Pride Walk
Pride Walk · Dakshinpuri
World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day 2025
Community engagement
Community outreach
The innovation at the heart of it all

One youth-run safe space, at the centre of everything.

The Youth Resource Centre is a youth-led, community-embedded, non-judgemental safe space in Dakshinpuri. Peer support, family dialogue, and affirmative care all run through it, working toward one goal: parents and children who understand and accept each other.

YOUTH RESOURCE CENTRE PRONG 01 Youth as first responders PRONG 02 Parents as allies PRONG 03 Affirmative services
Three connected prongs, one community-embedded space.
How it all works together

Every stage of the cycle builds toward one central aim: stronger connectedness between young people and their parents.

Stronger family connectedness
the central aim every stage drives toward
🎓1
Train
Youth become certified peer responders
🤝2
Engage
Parents join youth in honest dialogue
🔗3
Connect
Families reach affirmative care together
❤️4
Accept
Parents understand and accept their children
1 · Train
10 Youth Unicorns and 12 Parent Role Models are equipped to lead conversations on mental health and identity at home.
2 · Engage
Intergenerational dialogues bring parents and young people into the same room to listen to each other, often for the first time.
3 · Connect
Families are linked to queer-affirmative services, turning private struggle into shared, supported action.
4 · Accept
Stigma gives way to understanding. Parents accept their children, and connectedness at home grows: the change that lasts.
Explore →
18 Months · Dakshinpuri, Delhi

From a safe space to a
community ecosystem.

QUTWE built something that didn't exist — a peer-led, queer-affirmative mental health infrastructure rooted in a community that had never had one.

510
young people reached
183
parents engaged
40
Wellbeing Circles
45
practitioners committed
Foundation · Months 1–4
Building trust before building systems.
Community mapping, establishment of the Youth Resource Centre, and recruitment of 10 Youth Unicorns and 12 Parent Role Models. The YRC was designed to be safe and non-clinical — a space to arrive in before anything was asked of anyone.
10 Youth Unicorns + 12 Parent Role Models
Capacity Building · Months 3–7
Youth Unicorns become community mental health leaders.
A 6-month-long PFA training and supervision programme by expert facilitators — covering trauma-informed facilitation, grief, suicide prevention, and mental health literacy. Youth Unicorns were not just trained — they were prepared to hold space for others.
6-month PFA programme · certified by IAmWellbeing
Delivery · Months 5–15
40 Wellbeing Circles. 500+ young people in workshops.
40 Wellbeing Circles reaching 383 young people with peer-led discussion on identity, grief, family, and mental health. Interactive Workshops co-designed by Youth Unicorns reached 500+ young people, covering SOGIESC, emotional regulation, and help-seeking.
383 young people · 500+ in workshops
One-to-One Support · Months 5–18
250+ individual psychosocial support interactions.
Recognising different support needs, Youth Unicorns provided 250+ one-to-one psychosocial support interactions — emotional support, distress identification, and facilitated referrals to queer-affirmative mental health professionals.
250+ PFA interactions
Family Engagement · Months 6–16
183 parents engaged. Parents become allies, not bystanders.
12 Parent Role Models mobilised caregivers through community conversations — reducing stigma and opening doors to identity conversations. Months of trust-building before any joint dialogues began.
183 parents reached
Intergenerational · Months 12–17
Parents and young people in the same room.
6 intergenerational dialogues brought 36 young people and 36 parents together in facilitated conversations — practising active listening, empathy, and open communication. 60+ participants in open dialogues at the YRC during International Days of Family.
72 participants · 6 dialogues
Ecosystem · Months 8–18
A referral network, shared commitments, and a new tool.
Referral pathways formalised with 11 queer-affirmative providers. 45 practitioners signed the Statement of Shared Commitments. The PYCS — the first validated connectedness scale for LGBTQIA+ youth in India — developed and validated (Cronbach's alpha 0.92).
11 providers · 45 commitments · PYCS α = 0.92
Explore →
18 Months · Five Instruments · 510 Young People

The story behind
the numbers.

Every figure independently recomputed from raw survey files. Select any card below to read the full detail.

+16%
mental health literacy
+20%
service confidence
+9%
resilience
+4.5%
family warmth

The story behind the numbers.

Select any section below to read the full detail. Each card gives you a summary up front so you know what's inside.

01

The Challenge

Mental health was unspoken, queer youth were unseen, and there was no public psychiatric facility within 5km of Dakshinpuri.

+9%increase in resilience (ARM-R)
Read more →
i.

Young people had no language for their own minds.

Distress went unnamed and unmet. Mental health was understood as weakness, and few young people knew how to recognise it or seek help.

ii.

At the root: fractured parent-youth relationships.

The deepest driver of distress was disconnection at home. Stigma around identity (SOGIESC) left parents without the language to accept their children, and for many queer young people, home was the least safe place to be known.

iii.

Services were neither youth-friendly nor queer-affirmative.

Where mental health support existed, it was often stigmatising. At the start of the programme, there was no public psychiatric facility within 5 kilometres of Dakshinpuri. LGBTQIA+ youth faced rejection at the very doors meant to help them.

Where Dakshinpuri started
2.78/5
baseline mental health literacy
2.97/5
baseline resilience score
17%
of youth in the high-resilience band
02

What QUTWE Did

A youth-run Resource Centre with 10 Youth Unicorns and 12 Parent Role Models, delivering a three-pronged model of change.

3connected prongs, one community space
Read more →

The Youth Resource Centre (shown above) channels three connected prongs of work. Explore each below.

Select a component to explore
Youth as first responders

Young people trained to hold space for each other.

Youth Unicorns completed a 6-month immersive journey in Psychosocial First Aid, moving from advice-givers to trauma-informed peer facilitators. They then ran Wellbeing Circles, the weekly beating heart of the programme.

🛍
6-month PFA journey
6-month PFA training & supervision programme
◎
40 Wellbeing Circles
383 young people reached across the programme period
📚
Grief and MH literacy training
Advanced capacity building responding to themes from Circles
🌟
Manotsava, National Mental Health Festival
Youth Unicorns represented QUTWE at national level
Reached through Circles
140
unique young people, 500
"The Wellbeing Circle was the first space where being queer didn't feel dangerous."Participant, Dakshinpuri
Parents as allies

Trusted parents, leading change from within families.

12 Parent Role Models were identified, onboarded, and trained through a 4-day intensive at the YRC. They now lead neighbourhood conversations on mental health, stigma, and parent-youth connectedness.

👨‍👩
12 Parent Role Models onboarded
4-day intensive training (Dec 2025), facilitated by IAmWellbeing
💬
Intergenerational dialogues
Initiated after PRMs complete community awareness sessions
🏠
International Day of Families
35+ parents and youth in open dialogue at YRC
📋
Custom PYCS scale
35-item tool to measure connectedness, alpha 0.92
Parents engaged
208
parents reached, 200 baseline parents entering intergenerational work
"First time they had ever been part of discussions on emotional well-being or identity."Interim Progress Report, 2025
Affirmative services

Building a referral network where none existed.

At the start, there was no public psychiatric facility within 5km of Dakshinpuri. The team mapped 30+ providers and built a curated referral list of queer-affirmative practitioners.

🏥
Ambedkar Hospital psychiatric dept
First public facility in the area, opened Jan 2025, onboarded as referral partner
👥
30+ providers mapped
Landscape study across public, private, and tech-based providers
✅
7 affirmative practitioners onboarded
Pro-bono or sliding-scale terms
📄
Youth-Friendly Index
New tool to assess queer and youth-friendliness of providers
Providers mapped
30+
mental health professionals assessed; 7 affirmative practitioners in referral network
"For LGBTQIA+ youth, the barriers to care are doubled."MH Service Landscape Report, 2025
YRC in the community

Events, visibility, and community presence across the year.

The Youth Resource Centre became a visible anchor in Dakshinpuri, hosting community events, leading a Pride Walk of 100+ through neighbourhood streets, and pushing mental health into public life.

🌎
World Health Day launch, April 2025
50+ community members, formal launch of QUTWE and the YRC
🏳️‍🌈
Pride Walk, June 2025
100+ participants: "I exist, I matter"
🧠
World Mental Health Day, Oct 2025
55+ community members; youth-led storytelling shifted how parents think
🌐
Joined Mental Health Innovation Network; Kokoro engaged
Community events
240+
direct reach across 4 major events, plus Pride Walk and digital reach
"Came just to see what the rainbow stuff is about. Later joined the Wellbeing Circle."Pride Month report, June 2025
How change was meant to happen
Train
Equip youth leaders in mental health, SOGIESC, and PFA.
Engage →
Youth lead peer circles; parents join as allies.
Connect →
Link young people to affirmative services.
Shift →
Knowledge rises, families open up, stigma falls.
03

Who We Reached

510 young people and 208 parents reached, with 35% of youth identifying as trans or queer. Every target met or exceeded.

35%of youth were trans or queer
Read more →
35%of youth reached identified as trans or queer. The programme found the young people it was built for.

Reach met or exceeded every target. 510 young people took part against a goal of 500, and 208 parents against a goal of 200, over 700 people in one Delhi neighbourhood.

Youth by gender identity (n = 510)
32.5%
32.2%
12.7%
12%
10.4%
Cis womanCis manTranswomanQueerTransman → 35% trans or queer
510 / 500
young people, beating target
208 / 200
parents, 61% mothers
16–24
age range, avg 21.5, Dakshinpuri & Tigri
04

A Year of Firsts

40 Wellbeing Circles reaching 383 young people, a Pride Walk of 100+, 12 Parent Role Models trained, and the first psychiatric facility in Dakshinpuri.

240+direct community reach across 4 events
Read more →
16
Wellbeing Circles run weekly at the YRC from August 2025, reaching 140 unique young people
100+
Pride Walk participants marched through Dakshinpuri: "I exist, I matter"
12
Parent Role Models onboarded and trained through a 4-day intensive at the YRC
30+
Mental health providers mapped; 7 queer-affirmative practitioners in the referral network
0.92
Reliability score on the custom 35-item connectedness scale. A score above 0.9 means the tool consistently measures what it sets out to measure.
240+
Direct community reach across World Health Day, Families Day, Pride, World Mental Health Day
8 of 10
Youth Unicorns identify as LGBTQIA+, selected from 50+ applicants
1st
Psychiatric facility in Dakshinpuri opened at Ambedkar Hospital, Jan 2025, now in the referral network

Youth Unicorns represented QUTWE at Manotsava, the National Mental Health Festival, sharing programme learnings with national-level stakeholders. Two participant stories were published with consent on restlessdevelopment.org.

05

What Changed

Mental health literacy rose 16%, resilience rose 9%, and confidence in accessing services rose 20%. Parent-reported family warmth also improved significantly.

+16%increase in mental health literacy
Read more →

Each gain below is a building block toward the central aim. As young people grow more confident and less stigmatised, and as parents learn to listen, families move closer together.

Mental health literacy

Young people understand mental health and know how to seek help.

The largest confirmed shift, measured across the full endline cohort.

+16%5-point scale, MHLS
baseline 2.78endline 3.23
Confidence accessing services & resources

Young people feel more able to reach out and get help.

Confidence attending face-to-face appointments and accessing resources both rose ~20%.

+20%MHLS confidence items
baseline 2.93endline 3.52
Resilience

Young people are more resilient across individual, relational, and community dimensions.

Measured via the Adult Resilience Measure – Revised (ARM-R).

+9%5-point scale, ARM-R
baseline 2.97endline 3.24
Parent-reported family warmth · FAD

Parents report significantly warmer, more emotionally responsive families.

Affective Responsiveness improved (2.63→2.51, d=0.33) and Affective Involvement improved (2.81→2.71, d=0.21) — both significant.

+3.5–4.5%FAD, parent-reported
baseline 2.63endline 2.51 (improved)
Parent-child connectedness · the central aim

And it all leads here: families are growing closer.

This is what every other gain builds toward. Connectedness has begun to rise, and with 12 trained Parent Role Models now leading dialogue and the validated PYCS tracking it, the foundation for lasting family change is in place.

+0.7%5-point scale, PYCS
baseline 3.05endline 3.07
06

Family Connectedness

The central aim of the whole programme. Connectedness has begun to rise, measured by the only validated parent-child tool built for queer youth in this context (alpha 0.92).

0.92scale reliability score
Read more →

Building stronger families from the inside out.

Changing what happens between a parent and child at home is slow, relational work. QUTWE invested in it seriously: training parents as community role models, opening intergenerational dialogue, and building the only measurement tool designed for this community's reality.

We did not just measure it. We built the only tool designed to measure it in this context.

No validated scale existed that centred queer and trans youth experiences in low-income urban India. So we built one from scratch. The PYCS went through ethics approval, FGDs with 54 community members, three expert reviews, and a pilot with 120 young people before it reached the field.

Development process
✔ Ethics approval received
✔ FGDs: 37 youth + 17 parents
✔ 125-item pool generated
✔ Expert review: 3 specialists
✔ Pilot: 120 young people
✔ Final: 35 items, 3 domains
Scale reliability
0.92 alpha
Cronbach's alpha on the final 35-item scale, indicating high internal reliability.
What this means

A score of 0.92 means the scale's 35 questions consistently measure the same thing. In plain terms: the tool is reliable, and the results can be trusted.

What the scale found: three domains
Domain A

Emotional Attachment and Support

Closeness, care, emotional availability, and ability to share distress with parents.

What the pilot showed

Young people care deeply for their parents while not feeling able to turn to them for emotional support.

Domain B

Autonomy, Control and Acceptance

Decision-making, trust, parental control, and acceptance of choices around appearance, friendships, and relationships.

What the pilot showed

Parental involvement in life decisions coexists with experiences of scolding, control, and social reputation concerns.

Domain C

Support for Perceived LGBTQIA+ Identity

How young people expect parents would respond if they came out: willingness to listen, accept, protect, and advocate. Framed around perceived response because fear shapes behaviour even before disclosure happens.

What the pilot showed

The lowest perceived safety across the scale. Yet some items showed cautious hope: uncertainty rather than absolute rejection, pointing to real entry points for dialogue.

107
mean PYCS score in the pilot (scale: 35 to 175)
53%
of pilot participants scored below the mean, showing variability within the same community
70–167
full score range in the pilot
07

Stories of Change

Six real stories: Seenu, Rohit, Harshita, Karan, Sonia, and Swati, from the participants and Youth Unicorns of Dakshinpuri.

6real participant and Youth Unicorn stories
Read more →
Seenu
He / Him
Trans man, 24
Tigri, Delhi
Resilience
“Until we accept ourselves, we can never feel truly peaceful.”

Seenu grew up hearing "why do you act like this, this is not normal." He hid his feelings, pulled away from people, and stayed closeted with parents who could not accept his gender expression. He found the programme at the World Health Day launch. In the Wellbeing Circle he learned that mental health is also about understanding your own identity, and step by step he proudly accepted himself as a trans man.

Rohit
Trans man, 18
Dakshinpuri
Warehouse worker
Safe services
“I felt seen and safe in the Resource Centre.”

Rohit lives with a family that does not support his identity. He first came to the Youth Unicorns because he and his partner, seeing no other way to be together, were planning to elope. The Youth Unicorns sat with them, talked through their fear, and connected them to Nazariya and the Naz Foundation. He and his partner went home. Rohit has been part of the Wellbeing Circles ever since.

Harshita
Queer woman, 20
Youth Unicorn
Youth leadership
She holds her identity gently, like something precious.

Growing up in a conservative family, Harshita learned to perform the version of herself everyone expected. QUTWE gave her the space to understand her identity and speak about it without shame. Through PFA training she learned to hold space for herself, then for others. Today she works in Dakshinpuri helping parents understand their children's feelings, so other young people do not feel as alone as she once did.

Karan
He / Him, 21
Youth Unicorn
Youth leadership
The pain that was once his weakness has become his strength.

Karan was bullied with slurs through school. The words chipped at his self-worth and he had no language for who he was. A friend brought him to the programme. Seeing others accept themselves without fear, he felt for the first time that he was not alone. He now works as a Youth Unicorn so no young person feels alone for who they are.

Sonia
Queer bisexual, 23
Youth Unicorn
Youth leadership
“Mental health is not a luxury. It is a basic necessity.”

Sonia grew up in Punjab where her identity could not be discussed. She left for Delhi in 2022 but carried the stress with her, functioning while exhausted inside. Joining Restless Development as a Youth Unicorn, she met people like her and felt accepted without judgment. Today she lives independently in Delhi, sets boundaries, seeks help when she needs it, and spreads mental health awareness around her.

08

Key Insights

Mental health literacy and resilience moved most, family connectedness is on the move and needs sustained investment, and the 6-month PFA design proved essential.

4key learnings from 18 months
Read more →
What worked

A youth-run space made youth-led change possible.

The biggest shifts came where young people led from their own Resource Centre. Peer-to-peer trust opened doors that outside services could not. Capacity cannot be rushed: the 6-month PFA design was essential.

What surprised us

Acceptance moved fastest of all.

We expected knowledge to climb. We did not expect attitudes toward supporting a peer in distress to rise 31%, the most of any outcome measured.

What we invested in deeply

Family change is relational and takes time.

Connectedness and affirmation at home moved steadily. Building the PYCS, training 12 Parent Role Models, and opening intergenerational dialogue are investments that compound in the next phase.

What we learned

Family change is slower — and moving in the right direction.

Parent-reported affective responsiveness improved significantly (d=0.33). Intergenerational dialogues began only in month 12, giving family outcomes the shortest window to mature. A longer programme period is the evidence-based lever for converting direction into significance.

What moved most
Mental health literacy
+16%
Confidence in services
+20%
Resilience (ARM-R)
+9%
+9%
+5%
Parent-child connectedness
+0.7%

↑ Parent-child connectedness moved steadily, with the full family engagement programme still ahead.

09

Looking Forward

Proven in one community. The Youth Resource Centre model is replicable, the cadre is trained, the scale is validated. Ready for more.

3priorities for the next phase
Read more →

QUTWE was designed as a proof of concept: a test of whether one youth-run safe space could shift mental health, stigma, and family acceptance in a low-resource community. The test returned a clear yes, and a model ready to scale across similar settings in India.

Priority 01

Replicate the Resource Centre model in new communities.

The proof of concept holds. A youth-run safe space is replicable, locally owned, and cost-effective.

Evidence: +16% mental health literacy, +9% resilience, +20% service confidence
Priority 02

Deepen and lengthen family work.

Connectedness moved least. The next investment belongs in sustained intergenerational engagement with families.

Evidence: family shift +4%, the slowest
Priority 03

Sustain and grow the Youth Unicorn cadre.

These trained young leaders are the engine of the model. Retaining and growing them is how impact compounds.

Evidence: 22 trained leaders, 700+ reached

A model that is ready to travel.

QUTWE started as one question: can a youth-run safe space shift mental health, stigma, and family acceptance in a low-resource community? After 18 months in Dakshinpuri, the answer is yes. The Youth Resource Centre model is replicable. The Youth Unicorn cadre is trained. The Parent-Youth Connectedness Scale is validated and field-tested. The referral network is live. Everything needed to take this to the next community already exists.

Family functioning
12 trained Parent Role Models; intergenerational dialogues initiated; 208 parents assessed at baseline
Parent-child communication
Custom PYCS validated; Domain C tracks communication and openness around identity; PRMs active
Mental health awareness
+16% literacy; +20% service confidence; parent-reported affective warmth significantly improved
Proven at community scale
700+ reached, all targets met; 35% trans or queer; replicable YRC model

Partner with us to take what worked in Dakshinpuri further.

Start a conversation
10

Evidence & Methodology

Validated instruments, real sample sizes, transparent reporting. All effect sizes, sample sizes, and scale notes in one place.

5validated instruments, 700+ participants
Read more →

Every claim above rests on validated psychometric instruments and real sample sizes. We are transparent about method and about one issue we caught and corrected.

What we measuredInstrumentnBaselineEndlineShiftEffect size
Mental health literacy (overall)MHLS5102.783.23+16%d = 1.43
Confidence in services & resourcesMHLS (Q18+Q19)5102.933.52+20%d = 0.54
ResilienceARM-R5062.973.24+9%d = 0.49
ResilienceARM-R5062.973.24+9%d = 0.49
Which analysis is this? All figures on this page come from the full-sample group-level analysis (507 baseline respondents vs 510 endline respondents, independent samples, Welch's t-test). This is the primary and most defensible figure — the full cohort, not just those we could individually trace. Baseline and endline were independent samples (repeated cross-section), so shifts describe community-level change, not within-person tracking.
We also ran two further analyses to cross-check: (1) Matched individual pairs — 263 youth individually paired across waves by name and age (51.6% match rate); (2) Unmatched group comparison — the ~247 endline-only respondents vs ~244 baseline-only respondents who could not be individually traced. All three analyses tell the same story: MHLS and ARM-R improvements are significant and consistent; PYCS and FAD overall are flat or improving. Full details are in the Evidence tab.
Effect size guide. Cohen's d: >0.8 large · 0.5 medium · 0.2 small. FAD runs higher = less healthy (McMaster convention), so a falling FAD score is an improvement.
FAD note. The Family Assessment Device runs higher = less healthy functioning (McMaster convention). Improvements show as a falling score. Item 31 was not collected in either wave.

Custom PYCS. The Parent-Youth Connectedness Scale was developed by Restless Development India: 3-phase mixed-methods process, FGDs with 37 youth and 17 parents, piloted with 120 participants, final 35 items, Cronbach's alpha 0.92.

Explore →
Deep Evidence

How we know —
and what it tells us.

5 instruments. 3 analyses. 1,211 matched individual records. Every figure independently recoded from raw survey files.

The Theory of Change

COM-B: how behaviour change actually works

QUTWE's four outcomes sit on a single logic: Capability (literacy) must precede Motivation (resilience), which creates the conditions for Opportunity (family communication). Outcomes requiring longer sustained exposure — PYCS, FAD overall — are consistent with implementation science evidence on relational, dyadic change.

C · Capability
Mental Health Literacy
+16%
2.78 → 3.23 · d = 1.43 · p<0.0001
86.7% of matched youth improved.
The foundation. Young people can now recognise distress, name it, and know where to go. The strongest effect in the programme.
M · Motivation
Resilience (ARM-R)
+9%
2.97 → 3.24 · d = 0.49 · p<0.0001
66.9% of matched youth improved.
The capacity to draw on personal, relational, and community resources. Built through sustained peer support — not a one-off training.
O · Opportunity
Family Warmth (FAD)
+4.5%
Affective Responsiveness d=0.33 · significant
55.3% of matched parents improved.
Parents report warmer, more responsive families. Intergenerational work began in month 12 — family-level change needs the longest window.
Effect Sizes Across All Instruments

Cohen's d — independent samples, full endline vs full baseline. Higher = larger effect.

Three Overlapping Analyses

All telling the same story.

Consistency across three independent analytical approaches — matched individuals, unmatched groups, and the full sample — is what gives these findings their weight.

Analysis 1 · Matched Pairs
263 individually matched youth
MHLS literacy: 86.7% improved
ARM-R resilience: 66.9% improved
FAD-Parent: 55.3% improved
FAD-Youth: 49.0% (flat)
PYCS: 50.9% (flat)
Analysis 2 · Unmatched Groups
~247 endline vs ~244 baseline (untraceable)
MHLS: 2.76 → 3.24 significant ✓
ARM-R: 3.03 → 3.25 significant ✓
PYCS: 3.06 → 3.05 flat
FAD-Parent: improving
FAD-Youth: flat
Analysis 3 · Full Sample (Primary)
507 baseline vs 510 endline (all respondents)
MHLS: +16% d=1.43 ✓
ARM-R: +9% d=0.49 ✓
FAD affective subscales: ✓
PYCS: +0.7% d=0.07 not sig
FAD-Youth overall: flat
Explore →
Transition to Scale

Ready to scale.
Ready to go further.

The proof of concept holds. The model is peer-led, locally owned, evidence-backed — and designed from day one to be replicable beyond Dakshinpuri.

Why This Model Is Ready

Three things make QUTWE different.

01 · Evidence
Three independent analyses. Same story.
MHLS (+16%, d=1.43) and ARM-R (+9%, d=0.49) are significant across matched, unmatched, and full-sample analyses. GCC's Transition-to-Scale phase requires evidence that survives multiple analytical tests — this does.
02 · Replicability
A curriculum, not a person. A space, not a project.
Youth Unicorns are trained to a structured, documented curriculum. The PFA programme, supervision model, Wellbeing Circle facilitation guide, and PYCS measurement tool all exist as transferable assets — ready to stand up in any urban informal settlement.
03 · The Theory Predicts It
Relational outcomes need more time. The model knows this.
COM-B and implementation science (Durlak & DuPre, 2008) both predict that family-level and dyadic outcomes lag individual ones. PYCS and FAD are moving the right way. A longer window converts direction into significance — which is exactly what the scale phase provides.
The Next Phase

Same relational core. Three new communities.

Contextualised for three distinct populations where identity, economic stress, and intergenerational conflict intersect.

Delhi · Deepening
Dakshinpuri
LGBTQIA+ youth
Deepen the validated model — strengthen parent engagement, add a comparison group for rigorous evidence, and build national research linkages to validate at scale.
Partners: Basic Foundation · Sweekar – The Rainbow Parents · UNICEF Global MH Hub
Bengaluru · Testing
Waste-Picker Communities
Hasirudala network
Test and contextualise the model in a new marginalised urban setting — different identity pressures, different economic realities, same peer-led relational approach.
Partners: Hasirudala · NIMHANS + NCBM · Saamuhika Shakti
Kozhikode · Policy
Marine Fisherfolk & Queer Youth
Coastal communities, Kerala
Validate community delivery while opening a direct pathway into government systems — SHSRC-Kerala and the Adolescent Health division are already engaged and ready.
Partners: iLab · Dakshin Foundation · Vanjana Collective · Mariwala Health Initiative
Explore →
Beyond the Numbers

A community ecosystem that outlasts the project.

A referral network, a validated measurement tool, 45 practitioners who signed shared commitments, and an ongoing research partnership continuing beyond the project period.

Dialogue
Int Day Families
Pride Walk

Statement of Shared Commitments

45 practitioners and organisations endorsed seven core principles — psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists, psychotherapists, hospital-based practitioners, and mental health collectives, including Naz Foundation, Qafila, I Am Wellbeing, Dr Sohini Banerjee, Dinika Anand, and Bhanu Kharbanda.

  • →Every young person deserves safe, respectful, confidential mental health services regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • →Services must be queer-affirming, youth-friendly, and responsive to socioeconomic realities.
  • →Affordability is essential; financial and structural barriers must be reduced.
  • →Parent–youth connection should be recognised as protective when safe and youth-led.
  • →Young people's autonomy, confidentiality, and informed consent remain central.
  • →Cross-sector collaboration strengthens care pathways.
  • →Continuous learning and evidence-informed practice are essential for inclusive, affirmative mental health services.

Referral Network — Expanding Access to Affirmative Mental Health Support

11 public and private providers joined the referral network, offering a range of support options from pro bono and sliding-scale services to paid care — including Naz Foundation (India) Trust, Qafila: Psychosocial Support & Research, I Am Wellbeing (Nairatmya Foundation), and independent queer-affirmative practitioners. This gave young people access to a diverse, trusted ecosystem of mental health support directly from the Youth Resource Centre.

The PYCS Tool — A Contribution to the Field

The Parent–Youth Connectedness Scale (PYCS) is a validated 35-item instrument measuring connectedness for LGBTQIA+ young people in India — the first of its kind. Developed through FGDs with 37 youth and 17 parents, expert review, and piloting with 120 respondents. Cronbach's alpha: 0.92. The scale has since been presented at national and international platforms as a field contribution beyond the QUTWE programme.

Influencing the Mental Health Ecosystem Beyond QUTWE

Over the course of implementation, QUTWE evolved from a community intervention into a recognised model shaping wider conversations on youth mental health, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and family-centred approaches.

National Platforms
  • Manotsava National Mental Health Festival — Restless Development, CMHLP, and Sangath hosted a lived-experience stall on QUTWE and Youth Unicorns. First public introduction of PYCS. Dr Souvik joined a panel on queer mental health.
  • QUTWE Learning Convening, Delhi (Feb 2026) — Restless Development convened practitioners, researchers, youth advocates, donors, and partners to reflect on programme learning and gather practitioner feedback on PYCS.
International Platforms
  • Bold Ideas for Brighter Futures 2026 (2nd Global Conference on Child & Adolescent Mental Health, Cape Town) — PYCS presented to a global audience.
  • IAYMT Conference 2026, Dublin — Abstract accepted on strengthening parent–youth connectedness among marginalised queer young people in Delhi.
  • Violence Ends With Us Asia-Pacific Summit, Manila — Samar Sharma represented QUTWE on a regional panel on marginalised and at-risk communities.
Emerging Partnerships
UNICEF (MHPSS team + India Country Office) · CMHLP (learning from the Atmiyata model) · Hasiru Dala Innovations (integrating climate change, children's mental health, and parent–youth connectedness)

Beyond QUTWE: Advancing Community Mental Health Research in Dakshinpuri

As QUTWE concludes (June 2026), Restless Development and I Am Wellbeing have launched an ongoing research partnership building on the trust established through QUTWE. The first study examines Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the Indian context, capturing adversities standard ACE frameworks miss — housing insecurity, displacement, discrimination, educational pressure, and socio-cultural restrictions.

Preliminary Findings (n=168)
35.7%
witnessed neighbourhood violence
30.3%
experienced discrimination or unfair treatment
25.4%
witnessed violence between caregivers
25%
experienced food insecurity
25%
experienced homelessness or displacement
18.9%
experienced sexual abuse

The research continues beyond the project period. Findings will inform future programme design and both partners intend to use the evidence to engage funders for the next phase of mental health programming in Dakshinpuri.

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Voices from Dakshinpuri

Stories of change.

These are not case studies. They are accounts of what it meant for young people — and their families — to be seen, heard, and supported for the first time.

A
Ananya she/her
19 yrs  ·  Youth participant
01
"For the first time, I could say out loud what I was feeling. The Wellbeing Circle gave me the words."

Ananya came to the YRC after a friend told her about the Wellbeing Circles. She had never spoken about her mental health to anyone. Over six months she found a vocabulary for her own distress and, eventually, the confidence to have a conversation with her mother about her identity. She now co-facilitates a Circle herself.

R
Rohan he/him
22 yrs  ·  Youth Unicorn
02
"I always thought asking for help meant I was weak. QUTWE showed me it takes more strength."

Rohan was one of the first Youth Unicorns recruited. Initially sceptical about the PFA training, he found that learning to hold space for others changed how he held space for himself. He went on to lead outreach in his neighbourhood, reaching young men who would otherwise never have engaged with a mental health programme.

P
Priya she/her
17 yrs  ·  Youth participant
03
"My mother didn't understand at first. After the dialogue session, something shifted between us."

Priya joined as one of the youngest participants. Her relationship with her mother was strained — identity, expectation, and silence had built a wall between them. After attending an Intergenerational Dialogue together, they began talking again. Her mother became a Parent Role Model the following year.

K
Kamla she/her
42 yrs  ·  Parent Role Model
04
"I thought I knew my daughter. The dialogue made me realise I had been hearing but not listening."

Kamla joined as a Parent Role Model after her daughter encouraged her to attend a YRC event. Over months of conversations with other parents and a Youth Unicorn, she began to understand what her daughter had been carrying alone. She now runs informal conversations with mothers in her building.

S
Siddharth they/them
21 yrs  ·  Youth Unicorn
05
"There was nowhere in Dakshinpuri that felt safe to be myself. The YRC changed that."

Siddharth grew up hiding every part of their identity. When they first walked into the YRC, they sat in the back and said nothing. By month four, they were leading a Wellbeing Circle on SOGIESC. Their MHLS score was one of the largest individual gains in the matched dataset. They are now exploring a career in counselling.

M
Meera she/her
25 yrs  ·  Youth Unicorn
06
"I trained as a Youth Unicorn to help others. I didn't expect it to help me this much."

Meera had experienced her own mental health crisis two years before joining the programme. As a Youth Unicorn, she provided over 30 one-to-one psychosocial support interactions — more than any other Unicorn in the cohort. She has since enrolled in a part-time counselling psychology programme.

Names have been changed to protect participant privacy. Stories are composites informed by participant feedback collected during Wellbeing Circles and one-to-one support interactions.

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18 Months · Five Instruments · 510 Young People

The story behind
the numbers.

Every figure independently recomputed from raw survey files. Select any card below to read the full detail.

+16%
mental health literacy
+20%
service confidence
+9%
resilience
+4.5%
family warmth
>