Sky Ranch SHIELD (Substance Use & Mental Health Intervention for Education, Learning and Diversion) - Siouxland Human Investment Partnership (SHIP) with Sky Ranch Behavioral Services (SRBS) will deliver SHIELD, a culturally affirming evidence-based diversion initiative to divert 500 youth prior to arrest and booking and impact 2500 beneficiaries of youth, parents/caregivers, and providers over five years. This is in response to a crisis of tobacco and THC vaping with related substance use and mental health in the Sioux City Community School District (SCCSD) with a goal to reduce the number of youth with mental illness or co-occurring disorders (COD) in the juvenile justice system, increase resiliency skills, enhance school engagement, and improve overall well-being. SHIELD will prioritize and serve Woodbury County, Iowa located in the tri-state (Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota) region of the Sioux City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), known as Siouxland. While this evidence-based early diversion initiative will be open to all youth ages 11 to 18 in grades 5 to 12, a priority focus will be on SCCSD, the largest District in the region, including youth impacted by poverty, low academic performance, and other identified barriers. Minority youth who have been disproportionately impacted by racial and equity barriers will also be prioritized to include the Indigenous, African American, Latino, and LGBTQIA+ youth. SHIELD will be delivered in partnership with SCCSD, Sioux City Police Department (SCPD), Iowa Third Judicial District Juvenile Court Services (JCS) and the network of community-based providers. Grounded in the Interconnected System Framework (ISF)- Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Stages of Change Theory, evidence-based practices will include Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment (SBIRT), motivational interviewing, and INDEPTH diversion. Substance use and mental health screening tools will include CRAFFT+N and Pediatric Symptoms Checklist. Practices will be delivered in individual, group, family, and community-level interventions by diversion specialists and interventionists with core partners. Deliverables for SHIELD will include the quarterly Advisory Behavioral Health Workgroup composed of the current SCCSD workgroup, youth, core partners and community-based providers for this initiative, Early Diversion System Mapping using the Sequential Intercept Mapping (SIM) Model in months 1-3, development of the SHIELD Blueprint™, a comprehensive plan of evidence-based and community-based services to divert youth in the population of focus by month 6, a culturally affirming Early Diversion Continuum of Interventions, to include: 1. Vaping prevention education for all 5th and/or 6th graders to divert future use; 2. Group Diversion education for middle and high school students identified vaping, substance use, or other risk behaviors as a part of in-school suspension as an alternative to law enforcement intervention; 3. Family and Group intervention for youth identified with first-time THC or other substance use as an alternative to Juvenile Court intervention. 4. Engagement in community-based SUD, mental health, cultural, and/or supportive services to support youth with resources to divert from future high-risk behaviors. Annual Training of core and community partners on culturally affirming mental health and substance use awareness and identification, de-escalation, diversion, and crisis intervention will build capacity and Sustainability Planning grounded in Capacity-Building by year 3. SHIELD will serve 2500 unduplicated youth, family members, and multidisciplinary professionals/paraprofessionals with 500 youth diverted from arrest and/or booking. 1) Diversion, Resiliency, Well-being. Reduce the number of youth with mental illness or COD involved in the juvenile justice system, through early diversion and increase resiliency of youth 2) Capacity Building and Sustainability. Provide resources, training, and capacity building to sustain the impact of SHIELD.
