Saturday, May 10, 2025
5/10/2025
Project PRESENCE: Promoting Reflection, Equity & Safety; Expanding Networks, Capacity, & Education - Allies for Every Child has been providing essential services to the most vulnerable children and families since 1987. This project will primarily serve young children (and their primary caregivers) from zero to five years old and their siblings (up to age 12), who are at risk of, show early signs, or have been diagnosed with mental illness, including serious emotional disturbance (SED) and who are at risk of, or are currently receiving services from Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) located in Service Planning Areas 5, 6 and 8 in Los Angeles County. This project has two main goals: 1) Improve outcomes for children 0-12 years old, who are at risk of, showing early signs, or having been diagnosed with mental illness, including SED and who are at risk of, or are currently receiving services from DCFS and their primary caregivers and 2) Increase early childhood provider (educators, child welfare workers, clinicians, early interventionists) capacity to identify, understand and intervene when issues related to socio-emotional development and need for trauma responsive and culturally relevant practices present. The purpose of the project is to improve access to high quality mental health services for children 0-12 years old who often experience difficulties finding appropriate and qualified providers in a timely manner and to reduce disparities related to access to high quality, culturally responsive mental health services for underserved populations and communities in the Los Angeles Area. The project will serve low-income families, a high percentage of whom identify as Hispanic/Latino and Black/African American; and will focus on providing age-appropriate, evidence-based, culturally and linguistically appropriate, trauma-informed mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention and treatment services. These services will include screenings, psychotherapy, and early childhood mental health consultation to benefit children, families and educators in our catchment area and training for the multidisciplinary early childhood workforce in Los Angeles County. The measurable objectives of this project are: 1) 85% of children who engage in mental health services until a planned termination will demonstrate improvements in social-emotional functioning. 2) 85% of dyads/triads who engage in dyadic psychotherapy treatment until a planned termination will demonstrate improvements in child-caregiver relationship quality. 3) 85% of caregivers who engage in psychotherapy treatment until a planned termination will demonstrate improvements in nurturing parenting practices. 4) 85% of consultees who have completed at least 6 months of consultation services will report an increase in self-reported capacity/ability to understand and manage children’s challenging behaviors. 5) By the end of the 5-year grant period, we will have trained 2,150 early childhood serving professionals on topics related to socio-emotional development, trauma-responsive practices, assessment and intervention and other relevant early childhood and mental health topics. 6) 85% of professionals trained will report an increase in knowledge of concepts relevant to work with young children. 7) By the end of the 5-year grant, we will have administered a total of 500 screenings, including developmental, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Benevolent Childhood Experiences, depression, anxiety and trauma screenings. Through this project we plan to serve 900 individuals through early childhood mental health consultation services; 140 individuals through mental health therapy services and 2150 early childhood serving professionals through training over a 5-year period.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).