The Native American Health Center’s (NAHC) NCTSI-III project will provide an integration of behavioral health evidence based and community defined best practices to serve American Indian/ Alaska Native, Indigenous, and underserved youth, ages 12-18, who have been exposed to trauma or who are at-risk for trauma exposure residing in and around NAHC’s clinics located in East Oakland, California within multiple settings: clinical, school and community based.
The proposed project will serve 350 members annually and 1,750 members over the 5 year project period. Goals and measurable objectives are as follows: Goal 1. Increase participation in, and access to, trauma treatment and mental health prevention services for children and adolescents ages 12-18, and their families who have experienced traumatic events through the implementation of culturally-competent, trauma-informed, community defined practices in NAHC’s clinic neighborhoods. Objectives: 1. Strengthen NAHC’s Traditional Health model by providing culturally based prevention services to 30 AIAN youth per project year 2. Provide school-based psycho-educational workshops to 30 youth per project year. 3. Provide school-based trauma-focused self-defense training to 30 youth, and/or their families per project year. 4. Implement a youth led tobacco/vaping cessation social media campaign that will reach 100 youth per project year. Goal 2. Increase access to direct evidence-based mental disorder treatment and services (including prevention, screening, assessment, care management, and therapy) for diverse and at-risk children and adolescents through culturally-competent services for children and adolescents ages 12-18 residing in NAHC’s clinic neighborhoods. Objectives: 1. Provide substance use and wellness screening and assessment to 30 AIAN youth per project year. 2. Provide school-based mental health screenings to 100 youth per project year. 3. Provide culturally modified outpatient mental health to 20 youth and their families per project year. 4. Provide school-based mental health interventions to 20 youth and their families per project year. Goal 3. Increase awareness and adaption of the importance of culturally appropriate and trauma-informed practices by providing locally developed AIAN History or other Network training services to populations of child-serving service systems, such as child welfare, child protective services, law enforcement and courts, and the juvenile justice system Objectives: 1. Provide locally developed culturally responsive trainings on AIAN History (addressing historical trauma) to representatives of 4 child serving systems per project year. 2. Collaborate with San Francisco Unified School District to develop a needs assessment that includes the pilot of school-based, trauma-informed prevention groups for at-risk youth residing in San Francisco by the end of Year 2 of the proposed project. 3. Collaborate with NCTSI - Category II Treatment and Service Adaptation (TSA) centers to develop, advance, or adapt interventions to improve engagement and outcomes for traumatized youth by the end of Year 1. 4. Implement a project evaluation to be submitted to SAMHSA by the end Year 5.