This session is a presentation on Hope, Healing and Health Collective Report; a youth-driven approach to collaboratively generate qualitative data in an effort to uplift and address the needs of youth mental health and youth-generated policy solutions. It will go into depth on the development of a youth-led policy council, and the process in which we engaged young people in generating and analyzing qualitative data from youth across the country, particularly from their peers in historically marginalized communities including Native American, Black, Latinx youth to create policy recommendations that address alarming mental health inequities. Participants will learn about the importance of involving impacted communities in generating qualitative data, and mobilizing policymakers to enact youth-derived action steps toward culturally-responsive and gender-affirming policy solutions for mental health. … [Read more...] about Youth Centered Mental Health Strategies for Hope, Healing and Health
System of Care
Voices of the High Fidelity Wraparound Workforce: Recruitment, Cultivation, & Retention
The Youth and Family Training Institute (YFTI) trains, coaches, and monitors the High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) workforce across Pennsylvania. The HFW workforce consists of coaches, facilitators, family peers, and youth peers. We recognized that recruitment and retention of staff in the mental health field has been problematic in recent years; therefore, we wanted to learn more about our diverse workforce and to make sure they feel valued and appreciated. We conducted focus groups consisting of 5 facilitators, 5 family peers, and 5 youth peers to help us design appropriate questions for surveys to ensure that their voices were being heard. In 2022, YFTI collected self-reported survey data from 31 facilitators, 18 family peers, and 12 youth peers regarding their roles and how to better support their needs. We used online data dashboards to display the de-identified survey results in graphs, tables, and charts. The workforce has access to the dashboards online and can view the data … [Read more...] about Voices of the High Fidelity Wraparound Workforce: Recruitment, Cultivation, & Retention
The Role of Higher Education in Supporting the Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH)System of Care
The primary goal of the Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Graduate Certificate through Troy University is to contribute to the improvement of mental health care of children and families in Alabama. The certificate is designed to increase the accessibility of direct service providers specifically trained to work with the birth to 6 year old population and families. The program includes opportunities for professionals across human service disciplines to increase the use of trauma-informed approaches to improve quality care for at risk populations. We will discuss program design, funding, and sustainability as well as barriers around diversity and inclusion faced throughout implementation. … [Read more...] about The Role of Higher Education in Supporting the Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH)System of Care
Systems of Care: Innovations in School Mental Health Services in Rural School Districts
Innovation can spark in many ways- jolts of ideas, dreams of what could be, or as pathways forward through obstacles and challenges. Innovation has sparked in many ways throughout our work and has become the cornerstone in shaping the future of our work. In this session, participants will learn about our journey as we implement our Systems of Care Expansion and Sustainability Grant into eight rural Nebraska School Districts. Our supported districts are diverse, serving over 7,500 students birth to 21; have over 40% of students on Free/Reduced Lunch status, and all experience limited access to mental health professionals- requiring on average an over a 50 mile drive into the Omaha metro area to access an already limited mental health workforce. Throughout our work, many opportunities for innovation have presented themselves including our school embedded, collaborative, tiered service delivery model; utilizing the Educational Service Unit (LEA) as the conduit for services, individualized … [Read more...] about Systems of Care: Innovations in School Mental Health Services in Rural School Districts
Lightning Talk: Resource Mapping for Early Childhood Systems of Care
Participants will learn the definition of early childhood mental health, Participants will be able to describe why early relational health matters; participants will be able to see the value in mapping their communities 0-5 soc; participants will be able to replicate a mapping session and begin to engage community members/providers in an early childhood initiative. … [Read more...] about Lightning Talk: Resource Mapping for Early Childhood Systems of Care