Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
The DC SAMHSA Project LAUNCH project will serve more than 1,300 young children, parents, early childhood educators and primary pediatric care providers in Wards 7 and 8 and portions of Ward 5 where lack of access to mental health resources and stigma limit the type of screening and intervention that could position children for academic success and life-long wellness. The District of Columbia has a high incidence of risk factors and barriers to mental health (MH) care, combined with low rates of MH care access. Over 22% of children have experienced two or more adverse childhood events (ACEs) including trauma, abuse, and neglect- all of which are strongly correlated to MH issues. The DC Department of Behavioral Health reports that 70,000 youth from historically marginalized communities in Washington, DC., have MH conditions, yet only 20% of youth from these communities under the age of 18 receive care. Only 30% of children in D.C. who are diagnosed with a MH need are served through Medicaid and Mental Health Rehabilitation Services. Our project will increase the workforce skills, capacity, and cultural competency can help close this gap. The project team will recruit and train nine community mental health workers (CMHWs) with lived experience and place them in early childhood education (ECE) centers and primary pediatric clinics (PPCs) to screen more than 500 children and 350 parents over five years. 330 ECE staff, 15 ECE mental health consultants, and 10 PPC staff will engage in provider wellness training (PWT) and 60 ECE and PPC staff will engage in additional Facilitating Attuned iNteractions (FAN) and trauma-informed Strengthening Family Coping Resources (SFCR) interventions training and other professional development to increase the quality of MH care in the district. Our project partners include Children's National Hospital (CNH) and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Division of Community Pediatrics (DCP) and United Planning Organization (UPO), a major provider of Early Head Start and Head Start ECE in D.C. We will build on existing partnerships to establish a Young Child Wellness Council (YCWC) that includes 22 Project LAUNCH partners, DC government agencies, Head Start, MH practicioners, and families to promote coordination among early childhood stakeholders. CentroNia, DC Council, DC Family Child Care Association, DC DBH, National Children's Center, Zero to Three, the George Washington University, Appletree Institutute, Ascend at the Aspen Institute, Alliance for Early Success, House of Ruth Kidspace, Mary's Center. New partners to join with these partners to compromise the YCWC: DC Child and Family Services Administration, MGUH DCP, CNH, MGUH CAP, GUCCHD, D.C. Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA: CNH will host Project ECHO model telemonitoring and quality improvement (QI) training that will be available to CMHWs, and ECE, PPC, and YCWC staff and leadership. Members of the YCWC will work together to leverage existing digital assets to collaboratively market the program, and CMHWs will co-create and share resources for families to destigmatize mental health in the communities they serve.
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).
