Project Summary: Chinatown Service Center (CSC), one of the largest community-based, Chinese-American organizations in Southern California, is applying for Project LAUNCH funding. With funding, we will provide resources, mentoring, and provision of early childhood mental health practices and services to identify and address behavioral concerns in children before they develop into serious emotional disturbances (SED). We will build the capacities of adult caregivers to support the wellbeing and development of children. These crucial services will be available to low-income, and uninsured individuals of Los Angeles (LA) County.
Geographic Catchment Area: LA County Service Planning Area (SPA) 3: San Gabriel Valley
Project: Project LAUNCH - Serving Asian Pacific Islander and Diverse Children and Families
Populations to be served: Our project will serve low-income, uninsured adults and children, primarily Asian/Pacific Islanders, with a behavioral health and/or developmental concerns; and early care providers serving children and families in the service area.
Project strategies/interventions: CSC will use a combination of several evidence-based- intervention (EBP)s, including Mindful-Cognitive Behavioral therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and EBPs to support the positive development of children such as Nurturing Parent Program (NPP) and Play Therapy. We will use several standardized screening tools for mental health, behavioral and developmental concerns. These interventions and screenings will be provided in English and Chinese languages.
Project goals and measurable objectives: Our proposed objectives include: 1) develop a public awareness plan to promote early childhood development, implemented across the full grant period; 2) reach individuals in the service area with our social media/marketing campaign; 3) establish a referral system for child and family-serving programs (childcare, parent respite, family resource center, education support, transportation, etc.) and continue to add new entities each grant year; 4) screen children aged 0-8 for trauma and make a referral for services or care for those at-risk; 5) screen children for developmental and/or learning disorders and make a referral for services or care for those at-risk; screen parents/caregivers for depression, trauma, and/or substance use disorder and make a referral for services or care for those at-risk; 6) provide formal parenting classes using the Nurturing Parent Program (NPP) framework to parents/caregivers; 7) provide referrals to Play Therapy, provided by a credentialed therapist; and 8) establish an Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program at CSC. The program will provide a comprehensive assessment and diagnostic and treatment for identified conditions, either directly by CSC or through referral.