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NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi is fighting youth violence, a significant public health issue in the Bronx. The Stand Up to Violence (SUV) Program is based on the idea that violence is a disease and should be treated with methods and strategies used to fight diseases. The program includes a team of 10 professionals, who work together to reduce violence in Bronx communities. Violence affects the country as a whole, but gun violence is the leading cause of death in young black men ages 14-25. This is also the group who are least likely to seek mental health services due to the stigma associated with a mental health diagnosis as well as accessibility obstacles. SUV has not only seen an increase in violence here in our community, but we have also seen an increase in young people wanting to access mental health services. This demand, coupled with the mental health crises of the pandemic has rendered mental health care even more difficult to obtain. At Jacobi Hospital, we do not have outpatient mental health services on-site for our pediatric patients and some of our adult patients are referred elsewhere due to the level of services needed. These outside referrals create challenges in monitoring patient follow-through with treatment. We are proposing the addition of an emergency room social worker, case worker, part time psychiatrist and a creative arts or music therapist, all who are experienced in treating trauma/violence. We are proposing that these resources are managed by the current SUV leadership to ensure the coordination of services and to offer a comprehensive treatment plan for our patients and participants. These new positions would allow for a more meaningful and robust mental health component to our outreach and hospital-based team. It would mean we could offer groups, medication management and other creative forms of therapy, all in one setting starting at the time of initial engagement with our patients.

The intent of this project is to increase the resilience of first responders across the State of Ohio through the development of peer support teams across the state. As the premier, professional, and proactive association for the Fire and EMS industry leaders across the State of Ohio, it is our inherent duty to ensure that we identify, prepare for, and pursue opportunities to establish programs that work to ensure the overall health and wellness of our members, their employees, their families, and the agencies they serve. Over the last few years, Ohio’s fire service have been actively involved in peer support and initiatives with the intent of bringing training into that state that can be delivered to all public safety agencies to try to improve the resiliency and overall behavioral health and wellness of our employees. The ability to provide proactive and meaningful peer support training programs that put the power to help coworkers into the hands of the first responders themselves cannot be overstated. This project provides the opportunity to partner with a first-responder based international agency to deliver peer support training that is based on sound scientific principles and has proven to be effective. Inaction is not an option and the ability to deliver these training programs to a wide-ranging audience of first responders across the state of Ohio will have and instantaneous and long-lasting positive impact on the behavioral health and wellness of our employees.

RefugeeOne’s Community Project Funding will provide trauma-informed, evidence-based mental health services for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees and asylum-seekers in Chicago, IL. The conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine have resulted in millions of forcibly displaced persons, young and old, who have directly experienced acute trauma and who seek to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. For those arriving in the United States, inequitable access to trauma-informed, culturally, and linguistically responsive mental health services regrettably intensifies vulnerabilities from past trauma and directly impacts a newcomer’s ability to adjust, contribute, and thrive in a new country. In response, this proposal seeks to address the acute mental health needs and advance health equity by increasing access to mental health treatment, suicide prevention activities, and recovery support services for Afghan and Ukrainian arrivals. The mental health interventions and support services will be coordinated through RefugeeOne, the largest non-profit refugee resettlement organization in Chicago founded in 1982 and specifically through the RefugeeOne Wellness Program, an in-house, evidence-based mental healthcare program in operation since 2011 to support the complex mental health and health needs of refugee and immigrant arrivals.

The Salvation Army’s Shelter is Delaware’s only facility dedicated to the housing of victims of human trafficking. Federal funding would support the transformation from a limited availability emergency shelter to a fully dedicated short-term residence to serve the growing cohort of trafficking victims. Funds will be used to hire additional trauma-informed staff, security personnel, professional evidence-based, trauma-informed therapy and for operational support.

The Loma Linda University Sickle Cell Center (LLU-SCC) is developing an expansion of our Behavioral Health services to include a regional behavioral health outreach program, coupled with a coordinated system of care to provide wrap-around resources and services LLU-SCC, Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, and San Manuel Gateway College will collaborate to create an integrated behavioral health care system for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) / Sickle Cell Trait (SCT) patients and caregivers. Community health workers (CHWs), navigators, and behavioral health professionals will develop a network of resources and behavioral health services. Training and Education, Coordinated Behavioral Health Services, and Outreach and Engagement make up our program. Our program will train CHWs and navigators, connect patients and caregivers to mental health services/resources using a tiered care approach, and involve huge Sickle Cell communities. This coordinated strategy would expedite SCD patients' neuropsychological assessment and other behavioral health services, lowering barriers to care and boosting this vulnerable population's well-being.

AABR will utilize project funding to create three behavioral health positions to provide services to the 400+ individuals in our congregate care and Day Habilitation settings. Training and Consultation services will provide specialized clinical expertise for the Behavioral Health Providers to effectively improve recipients' daily functioning. In addition, specialized training delivered through the largest provider association in the state, the Interagency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies (IAC), will reach their 150 provider agencies across NYC and NYS. The grant-supported Behavioral Health providers will assess and evaluate Individuals for their behavioral health needs and the effects of trauma. Working as a part of an interdisciplinary team, they will assist in developing individualized action plans and train direct support staff to assist in the achievement of the goals. The Behavioral Health Providers and staff will receive specialized training in the identification and treatment of trauma for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities. The STRYDD team will offer community training to I/DD providers through the provider membership organization, Interagency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc. (IAC), representing member agencies throughout NYC and NYS. In addition, clinical consultation services will be provided to aid in the successful individual treatment of recipients of services to support their achievement of optimal functioning.

Bay Area Community Health (BACH) is a nonprofit, Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that provides high quality comprehensive health services in California’s Alameda County and Santa Clara County (SCC). Through its School-Based Health Centers (SBHC), BACH aims to address the unmet mental health needs of low-income youth and families facing various barriers to care in SCC. BACH will hire a team comprised of six behavioral healthcare providers, and a contract psychologist, who will provide school staff, students, and community families with specialized training and direct services that are needed during most crisis events. Through their six school-based health centers, BACH will be collaborating with East Side Unified School District and Gilroy Unified School District to implement a crisis intervention program focused on adolescent mental health beginning October 1, 2023. The school-based behavioral health providers will be placed at each of the school-based health centers providing services that include social-emotional learning, trauma-informed and healing, substance use counseling, violence prevention, suicide prevention, dating violence, mental health diagnoses, grief counseling as well as depression, anxiety, social conflict, sequelae of toxic stress, attention disorders, loss therapy, crisis intervention, and medication management.

BPSOS-Center for Community Advancement (BPSOS-CCA) proposes to establish a Training Resource Center to drive transformational change by promoting high quality and affordable mental health services and improving trauma-informed, cultural competency for service providers to respond to and address mental health challenges within the Asian American community. Our project aims to promote health equity for over 458,000 Asian Americans residing in California’s 47th and 45th Congressional Districts, covering both Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Within the Asian American community, many remain undiagnosed, undertreated, and resources specifically tailored to the needs of the community are wanting. Building upon our 23 years of experience serving Asian Americans in Southern California, we will implement a 12-month initiative entitled the Mental Health Awareness and Promotion (MHAP) project with the goal to increase the capacity of local mental health systems by improving trauma-informed, cultural and linguistic competency of the health workforce and support effective response to the mental health needs of Asian Americans. Project activities include conducting community assessment, adapting and translating SAMHSA’s Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) – Improving Cultural Competency training, and conducting community outreach and education. At the end of the project period, at least 300 service providers and professionals in the 45th and 47th Districts will receive cultural competency training. These providers and professionals will have increased their knowledge and their organizations’ cultural competency of how to effectively detect, prevent, and provide treatment planning that addresses the unique mental health needs of the diverse population in California. Immediate outcomes resulting from the project include the expansion of a culturally competent healthcare workforce, improved access to behavioral health care for Asian Americans, increased availability of quality behavioral health programs and practice, and reduced persistent disparities in mental health for underserved populations and communities.

Child and Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut (CFA) seeks funding for the Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants (ECMHC) program. The primary focus of the program is to address the mental health crisis among the early childhood population in the region.  The ECMHC team will deliver 3 core services to children in grades Pre-K through 2 at 17 selected schools: (1) curriculum support, (2) teacher support, and (3) community navigation. The ECMHC program has three objectives, one for each of the core services to be delivered through the program.   For core service 1, Curriculum Support, 67% of teachers who receive this service will report that the evidence-based curriculum produced a positive impact on students’ behavioral health, as measured by a 50% reduction in behavioral referrals.   For core service 2, Teacher Support, 67% of teachers who receive this service will report feeling more hopeful about doing their job, as measured by 50% overall improvement on the teacher’s classroom self-assessment survey from pre to post.  For core service 3, Community Navigation, 67% of students or families who are identified as individuals who would benefit from referrals for additional or related services will experience a warm hand-off to appropriate providers. Given the scope of the project and the amount of students and family members who will be eligible for service through attendance in the 17 participating schools numbers in the thousands, the ECMHC program will have a significant and far-reaching impact on the region and the children and families who reside the Greater New London region.

The 988 Implementation Act will establish resources to support a national hotline for mental health crises. The San Fernando Police Department has been closely following this progress and recently participated in virtual meetings to learn about the benefits of the 988 system. The City sees an opportunity to compliment the 988 hotline and proactively address mental health issues in the community by developing a working relationship with individuals and families that need ongoing support. To do this, the City aims to establish a partnership with an organization that can work directly with the Police Department to both support with local household mental health cases and follow up with outreach services. The Mental Health Clinicians will support key staff members and have the following supportive roles within the department: • Provide training and support services to Police staff in addressing mental health-related calls. • Assist officers with de-escalation. • Conduct outreach in tandem with the Police Department, City Manager’s Office, and Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health for mental health resources, events, clinics, etc. • Collaborate with the Police Department’s community engagement lead. • Collaborate with sister agencies such as the Department of Mental Health, and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. • Work with San Fernando residents to provide crisis counseling and follow up support.

Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO), in partnership with the University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU), will develop and expand two programs that together will enhance access to mental health care and improve linguistic responsiveness in mental health services for children and youth in Aurora, Colorado and the broader Denver metro area. The two programs are an Unlicensed Behavioral Health Clinician Pathway Program (Pathway Program) and a Bilingual Salary and Benefit Enhancement Program (Bilingual Program). The Pathway Program will provide unlicensed psychotherapists with the professional supervision and training required for them to obtain a license—either Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) or Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). CHCO will employ these professionals before they become licensed in the state. Additionally, they will be trained in novel, evidence-based treatments that are specifically designed for children, youth and families. For the six behavioral health clinicians in this proposal, they will each see an average of 25 patients per week; in total, these clinicians will have approximately 7,800 patient encounters in one year. The second component of the proposal is a Bilingual Program that will provide enhanced salaries and benefits for mental health providers and other staff to attain a clinical level of fluency in a second language, with the goal of helping all staff provide better mental health care services. Funds will be spent paying higher salaries and benefits to providers who have attained fluency requirements as demonstrated by testing and supervisory oversight. Eligible providers would include psychiatrists, psychologists, behavioral health clinicians, advanced practice providers and administrative staff. Annually, this would equate to approximately 9,016 visits for faculty and 2,208 visits for trainees per year.

Compass, Inc. in Lake Worth, Florida, implements social support and mental health services that are essential to the health and success of LGBTQ+ youth. Our proposed “Youth and Family Services” program will serve 150 clients between October 2023 and September 2024 by offering social-emotional support programming for LGBTQ+ youth and their parents/guardians, including mental health counseling, community resource referrals to supportive and complementary services, community building, and LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency training for providers and adults that interact with LGBTQ+ youth in Palm Beach County (PBC). Direct services provided to LGBTQ+ youth living in Palm Beach County are: (1) Social Support Education groups four times per week for LGBTQ+ youth to discuss healthy relationships, bullying, dating, and domestic violence to improve the life skills of our clients. (2) Mental health counseling for LGBTQ+ youth ages 11-18 to improve their connectedness with their community and self-concept and decrease isolation. Compass will provide education and a social support system to parents/guardians by offering two monthly social support groups to parents/guardians of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults and one specific to parents/guardians of transgender children. Information will be shared on other resources available in PBC for families and other adults, such as gender-affirming healthcare providers and school support. Our program will provide LGBTQ+ cultural competency training to providers and other adults who regularly interact with LGBTQ+ youth. Through these training sessions, a foundational understanding of the LGBTQ+ community can be achieved, and challenging questions can be asked and answered in an open environment.

ACTP continuously recruits licensed, experienced therapists from throughout California who make an indefinite commitment to providing pro-bono therapy to current or former foster youth referred from CASA and its community partners. These therapeutic relationships are not mediated by the foster care system and thus transcend its many typical administrative transitions—changes in placement, school, and foster care status. These voluntary relationships address the trauma and disruption inherent to foster care, help youth manage stress and anxiety, and help them develop the inner tools they need to become healthy adults. All volunteers are provided with robust support for the duration of their service. These include access to a clinical consultation group facilitated by an experienced therapist; individual consultation as needed; access to free monthly continuing education on topics responsive to the clinical needs of our clients and volunteers; opportunities to participate in research and evaluation; and extensive professional networking and development opportunities. The adaptation of the field to telehealth during the pandemic represents a significant improvement to the model, in that teletherapy relationships easily span youths’ many moves and transitions during young adulthood. Teletherapy also allows for better matching of youth and therapist, as a California youth can be matched with a licensed provider anywhere in the state, allowing the consideration of many criteria besides geographic location – for example, language, demographics, or clinical specialty. The overarching goal of the proposal is to connect at least 200 current and former foster youth from Contra Costa and surrounding counties with a qualified volunteer therapist who commits to providing free therapy on an ongoing basis until the therapist and youth together agree that the goals of treatment have been achieved.

Mental Health Association, Inc. (MHA) provides an array of behavioral health and substance use services at both their outpatient clinic, Bestlife Emotional Health & Wellness Center, and throughout its additional services to those who are experiencing homelessness, living with developmental disabilities, and recovering from a traumatic or acquired brain injury or disabling medical condition. Expanding Access to Mental Health Services will increase and expand MHA's capacity to provide mental health services to its clients through increased staffing and technology needs and provide for the needs of its day program for those recovering from brain injuries and disabling medical conditions. These activities total $513,000 and will serve 443 individuals. The Division of Recovery and Housing (DRH) works to end homelessness through preventive interventions, permanent housing, and community education. The New Way (Acquired Brain Injury) Division provides services to those with a traumatic or acquired brain injury or a disabling medical condition by transitioning people out of nursing homes and supporting them towards returning to employment and more individualized living. The Resource Center is a day program for people with those medical conditions to help them participate in peer-related activities that improve memory and physical mobility, enhance fine motor skills, and prepare them to return to employment. The BestLife Center for Emotional Health and Wellness, a part of the Division of Behavioral Health & Clinical Operations, is an outpatient behavioral health clinic providing evidence-based treatment and recovery coaching to clients with mental illness. The Division of Integration & Community Living provides safe, quality housing for people with developmental disabilities, mental health and substance use disorders, traumatic and acquired brain injuries, and those experiencing homelessness so they can live safely within their community. The project's goals and objectives are as follows: Goal 1 will increase program capacity within The Resource Center to enhance their programming needs and improve client services. The objectives of this goal include accomplishing the following by the end of Quarter 1: 1. Plan, execute, and complete the move-in process, including beginning to pay the new lease for The Resource Center; 2. The purchase of 100% new, quality furniture will be identified and purchased. Moving expenses will be paid and completed to ensure a smooth transition to the new facility and maximize any disruptions to client services; and 3. The purchase of a new and reliable program van will be completed, ensuring all necessary safety standards are met. Goal 2 will increase staff and program capacity by funding staffing expenses. The objectives of this goal include accomplishing the following at the beginning of Quarter 1: 1. Providing the funding for the Director of Outreach Services within DRH; and 2. Providing the funding for a Case Manager for the DRH Safe Haven Program. Goal 3 will increase staff and program capacity to improve productivity by increasing technology resources. This goal's objectives include: 1. By the end of Quarter 1, purchasing 100% new desktops and laptops for the Medication Assistance Program training and the Relias online training program will be completed; and 2. By the end of Quarter 3, the electronic medical records system will be expanded. Goal 4 is to convert 100% of the organization's resource materials into Spanish, and its objective is to translate all resource materials into Spanish by the end of Quarter 3. Goal 5 is to provide behavioral health services to those who are uninsured, underinsured, or whose services are unreimbursed by health insurance regardless of their ability to pay, reducing the financial burden and increasing the health outcomes of uninsured individuals. The objective is to educate uninsured individuals of the services available at the BestLife outpatient clinic.

Nationwide, 47.1 million Americans live with a mental health condition, but rural Americans are disproportionately represented because of less access to care and greater stigmatization of mental health issues. Washington State's rural counties mirror this national picture, an as a result, suicide rate in Washington's rural counties range from 33-100% above average. This project will engage rural, underserved communities at multiple levels to understand both existing assets and gaps in resources needed to address mental and behavioral health services. At the county level we will meet with staff at 12 rural serving county health districts in Eastern Washington to determine behavioral health workforce needs and impediments to building and maintaining that workforce. At the community level we will conduct a comprehensive survey of all the Extension faculty and staff embedded in each county in Washington with a focus on existing mental health service availability and or gaps in the communities they serve. At the service provider level we will survey (N=80) mental health providers to determine their view of the challenges of providing services in rural areas and the prospects for, and problems with, increased use of telehealth. Then, at the level of schools, we leverage existing partnerships with school districts to add new anonymous survey data from students (N=3000; Grades 6-12) to our large existing data base of student surveys collected since 2019. These surveys will directly address trends in student mental health needs, and we will connect them to school and district level perceptions collected from school staff (N=250). Finally, we will synthesize the data from each of the levels to offer recommendations to discuss with communities to create a foundation for the introduction of new services and interventions. This multi-level community grounded approach for creating new mental health initiatives may be generalized beyond existing sites in Washington to become a national model.

The Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) program provides non-law enforcement, clinician-led, community-based crisis response across the entire San Diego County region for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The goal of the MCRT program is to respond to urgent and emergency calls in the community when calls are deemed appropriate for a clinician-only response. This grant will provide critical resources to meet the ongoing community need for a non-law enforcement response option for individuals in behavioral health crisis. The program teams, comprised of licensed mental health clinicians, case managers, and peer support specialists, divert individuals experiencing a crisis from unnecessary law enforcement involvement by instead stabilizing the client in the field and, if appropriate, connecting the client to the right level of behavioral health care. The most frequently occurring diagnoses among MCRT clients are Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, and depressive disorders. MCRT clients benefit greatly from making a connection with a clinician and establishing or reestablishing a connection with ongoing behavioral health care. Services provide a non-law enforcement response in a manner that is responsive to and respectful of community and individual needs.

The Santa Cruz County Office of Education plans to establish two wellness center pilot sites at local high school campuses to create a central and coordinated service and support hub for the prevention, early intervention and acute intervention activities and staffing serving the school's youth and families. By having dedicated space and personnel with appropriate skills within the school community, the aim of increasing access to behavioral health services, reducing stigma around this access and symptoms in general, as well as bolstering outreach schoolwide for Tier 1 programming and leveraging agency and county partners for Tier 2 and 3 rehabilitative and clinical services, the overall wellbeing of students will increase.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Southcentral Alaska proposes to develop and provide behavioral health support and services to children and youth, including those exposed to trauma through the following strategies: a. Trauma-informed staff development – with 100 staff and 200 volunteers providing skills to reduce behavioral incidents, reduce stigma, and foster connections with other support services; b. Partnerships with families and other caregivers – to build connections and skills with parents and widen their support network; c. Active networking with other human service agencies and health providers – to ensure children and youth receive appropriate services in a timely manner rather to combat “refer and wait” challenges; d. Aligning agency policy with trauma informed practice – through an assessment, development, implementation, and consultation process developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of America to ensure Club organizations are truly operating in a trauma informed manner; and, e. Proactively addressing trauma-informed improvements through a refined continuous quality improvement process. Boys & Girls Club of Southcentral Alaska has over 55 years of experience providing positive youth development services to children and youth since 1966. The Clubs’ statewide reach includes twenty-three (23) Clubhouse programs in Alaska’s urban corridor of Anchorage, Mat-Su, and Fairbanks, as well as rural and remote settings throughout Alaska. Fifteen (15) of these Clubs currently serve predominantly Alaska Native communities and include all major indigenous groups in Alaska, including Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Athabascan, Iñupiaq, Yup’ik, Cup’ik, Unangax, and Sugpiaq peoples. These Clubs are in Metlakatla, Saxman, Klawock, Kake, Utqiagvik, Kotzebue, Noorvik, Selawik, Nome, Brevig Mission, Saint Mary’s, Naknek, Togiak, Sand Point, and Tyonek. In Anchorage, the Clubs operate a Child Development Center for children as young as six weeks old. In 2022, the population of focus in the Clubs’ statewide reach served over 4,000 youth, ages 6 six weeks – 18 years. About 33% of these youth are teens. About 46% are girls; 54% boys; 37% Alaska Native or American Indian; 8% African American or Black; 5% Hispanic or Latino; 3% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; 27% Caucasian or White; 14% Multiracial; and 2% Other or Unknown. Poverty is pervasive in these communities, which limits opportunity to services health and education. Six (6) communities qualify for 100% free and reduced-price meals, seven (7) are between 75% and 99%, with the remaining Clubs above one third. The project will have a particular impact in that Clubs also need to be part of the continuum of services for youth who need behavioral support. The extreme geographic isolation, harsh climate, and limited technology mean there are limited services available for high-need children and youth. Building stronger supports in the continuum of care allows children and youth to receive appropriate levels of service in a timely manner and help keep them with their families and communities. When agencies are truly Trauma-Informed they are part of a support network that gets children and youth help early in their lives and provides positive support when it is needed.

Violence is a public health problem in under-resourced urban areas with high rates of poverty, crime, and health disparities. (Cunningham R. C., 2015) It is most prevalent among 10-35 yrs. old, with people of color disproportionately impacted (CDC, 2016). Atlanta, Georgia had 157 gun-related homicides among 14-24 yrs. old in 2020, a 58% increase over 2019. (Abusaid & Boone, 2021) At Grady Hospital they sustained 36% of all treated gunshot wounds with blacks (88%) and males (84%) disproportionately affected. Victims of violence often suffer psychological trauma as well as physical injuries. Most are discharged to the challenging and chaotic environments in which they were hurt, without additional supports to address the issues that led to their injuries. (Snider CE, 2007) Nationally, within 5 years of their hospital release, 45% of severely wounded patients will be reinjured; nearly 20% will be dead. (McCoy, Como, Greene, Laskey, & Claridge, July 2013) Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs (HVIP) have demonstrated effectiveness in preventing trauma re-injury. Where re-injury rates reach up to 50% in their absence, HVIPs can reduce rates to as low as 4%. (Purtle, Rich, Fein, James, & Corbin, 2015) Trauma-focused, community-based interventions including case management, wrap-around and therapeutic resources in conjunction with HVIPs help victims of urban violence heal from their trauma. Emory is partnering with Grady, Ga State University, Cure Violence, and City of Atlanta to launch the region’s first HVIP. UHI’s WWC and Annex programs will provide corollary community interventions to support the victims of urban violence in the greater Atlanta area. The WWC and Annex Programs provide comprehensive, individualized case management, wrap-around, and therapeutic services to individuals ages 14-40 (focus on teens) who have experienced trauma associated with violence, resulting in reduced violence in high-risk communities.

Rhode Island has been implementing a Behavioral Health System of Care for Children and Youth (SOC) since 2021. The SOC includes foundational, program, and connector components. The program and connector components - universal screening and prevention, Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, care coordination, home and community-based services, residential services, a single point of access, and evaluation - are all foundationally rooted in ensuring equity, workforce transformation, community and family outreach and engagement, and sustainable funding. As we note throughout this application, EOHHS is braiding funding from multiple sources to implement the entire SOC. This application focuses on MRSS funding, which is best understood as a program component of our overarching system of care.

For over thirty years, the Marion and Aaron Gural Jewish Community Center (GJCC) has been honored to provide a continuum of social services for Holocaust survivors and their families who call Five Towns of Long Island, Nassau County, New York home. We have seen first-hand how sustained trauma affects the lives of the victim, their children and their children’s children. GJCC’s R.I.S.E. (Resilient Impactful Sustaining Empowerment) Program fulfills New York's long-term commitment to create safe spaces and services that honor the legacies of Holocaust Survivors ensuring that their last years are not spent in isolation, and that their families are empowered with resilient impactful and sustainable skills and supports necessary to overcome intergenerational trauma. GJCC's expertise in trauma-specific services allows us to extend R.I.S.E. Program services to three additional populations that are also a statewide concern, immigrant seniors, vulnerable seniors, and victims of domestic violence (populations of focus) Providing these services also allows for more coordination with health care providers for early identification and response to health issues of our clients, reducing the number of and burden on our local hospital emergency departments and in some cases delaying the need for institutional care. Through the R.I.S.E. Program, we will serve 150 unduplicated individuals via trauma-informed comprehensive case management and 2,500 unduplicated individuals via outreach and educational services. GJCC's R.I.S.E. Program goals will be documented in compliance with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) using evidence-based and culturally appropriate assessment and case management data collection instruments.

People returning from incarceration face a multitude of barriers. Limited access to employment, transportation, housing, and mental health and substance abuse services are among the greatest obstacles. Without these stabilizing resources, people are less connected to their communities and therefore, far more likely to re-offend and return to incarceration. Without successful reentry programs like Ready4Work that connect returning citizens to these services, communities experience higher rates of crime, unemployment, and recidivism, which are all drains on the local tax base and overall economy. According to a 2018 Prison Policy Initiative report, “formerly incarcerated people are almost five times more likely than the general public to be unemployed, and many who are employed remain relegated to the most insecure jobs.” Relatedly, approximately 68% of the formerly incarcerated are rearrested within 3 years according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics 2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism. At Operation New Hope, we support, train, and motivate people returning from incarceration to become productive, responsible citizens saving taxpayers millions of dollars by avoiding repeated cost of incarceration and lost tax revenue, and helping to break the cycle of incarceration and poverty for them and their children. Implementing a comprehensive 4-pronged approach (case management and mental health, supportive services, job training, and job placement assistance), our Ready4Work reentry program ensures each client succeeds at reconnecting to the workforce, their families, and community. Upon acceptance into the Ready4Work program, participants are required to remain drug-free and attend a comprehensive job training program featuring life and employment skills. Clients also receive wraparound supportive services tailored to meet their personal needs and goals. Clients are paired with a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Case Manager who develop and implement an individualized plan of care. Each client is also assigned a Job Coach to provide guidance and support, leading to job placement with targeted employment partners. We also partner with post-secondary educational institutions and offer vocational training to provide our clients with a competitive edge that leads to living wage employment. Poverty and financial hardship for the formerly incarcerated are main drivers of recidivism. To alleviate immediate financial hardship, clients can earn incentives and stipends while enrolled in the program, and receive financial support to address transportation, vital documents, food and clothing. We partner with transitional houses and pay up to 3 months of safe and stable housing allowing clients to focus on securing living wage employment and developing the healthy habits needed to be successful upon reentry. Our Ready4Work program is designed to: • Support people affected by the criminal justice system to break the cycle of poverty and incarceration, • Promote second chance hiring practices to make good on diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, • Provide training in relevant, career-pathway skills to meet the needs of modern industry, • Prepare employers to receive workers from this community and challenge stigmas, • Deliver wrap-around services that support employees for success, which include case management and mental health services for an entire year. Operation New Hope's Ready4Work program produces multiple community benefits: • Increased public safety • Reduced recidivism • Decreased tax burden associated with incarceration costs • Increased tax revenue • Neighborhood stabilization • The improved economic and mental health of some the city’s neediest citizens. Our Ready4Work program addresses the problem of coercive mobility and provides a structured social framework, otherwise absent or depleted in high incarceration and high poverty neighborhoods, necessary for cultivating the human capital in the formerly incarcerated to prepare

ACCESS (Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency) Harris County is an integrated care model that addresses the root causes of poor health and life outcomes by holistically addressing the social determinants of health. Using a coordinated care approach, ACCESS Harris improves the health, well-being, sustained recovery, and self-sufficiency of the County’s most vulnerable residents by not just focusing on getting them into the social safety net but getting them out of it. ACCESS Harris County focuses on delivering intensive wraparound services to individuals in need of multiple services across the County’s safety net system through a no-wrong-door approach. Frontline staff across the County and community safety net programs eliminate the siloed and fragmented service delivery experience by working collaboratively to provide holistic, individualized wraparound services to these shared populations. Without the ACCESS approach, these vulnerable populations are left to navigate a fragmented system with limited success. Goals: 1. Increase access to mental health services for ACCESS Harris participants 2. Increase knowledge about mental health services offered to families 3. Increased access to care regarding social and support services 4. Increase the capacity of trained mental health professionals

Despite the vast amounts of data available to understand and address key mental health challenges among at-risk populations, research suggests as few as 40% of health-related nonprofit agencies regularly use data to drive decisions. A 2022 Austin Community Health Needs Assessment identified mental health as an important community health concern, and identified a lack of services that address social determinants of mental health to help address mental health needs and connect residents with resources. In response to these challenges, Texas State University’s 35 Health Merge data analytics training and technical assistance program will provide knowledge and skills to support data-driven decisions and monitoring of key medical and social determinants of mental health issues for nonprofits, healthcare organizations, government agencies serving clients in Austin and Travis County along the I-35 corridor. As an evidence-based data analytics and monitoring program designed to address key mental health trends and challenges among diverse client populations, 35 Health Merge is comprised of three distinct phases that teach and reinforce mental health data science knowledge and skills to trainees. Phase one of the program includes synchronous online training sessions and application exercises that teach trainees to identify and use overlapping data sets reflecting key mental indicators among their client populations. Phase two teaches trainees to use GIS mapping technologies to segment and visualize local mental health data and trends at the zip code level. Phase three includes ongoing technical assistance to reinforce key program components as they are implemented and used by participating organizations, and continuous program evaluation services that will assess outcomes of 35 Health Merge training among trainees and their organizations.

The Paterson Healing Collective (PHC), created through a partnership between Reimagining Justice Inc. and St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, is a Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program located in Paterson, NJ that applies community-based violence intervention and prevention strategies and examines violence through a public health framework. The PHC’s innovative solution seeks to address the root causes of gun violence, including food insecurity, lack of safe housing, and a lack of access to medical care and mental health services. The PHC’s aim is to promote healing and reduce over-policing and incarceration in communities of color and provides case management, advocacy services, and mental health counseling services. Population to be Served: The Paterson Healing Collective (PHC) will serve patients that arrive at St. Joseph University Medical Center’s emergency room for medical care due to gun violence injury and stab wound injury. The ages served in the PHC are males and females between 14-40 years old and residents of Paterson, NJ and neighboring communities, with a focus on the 1st, 4th, and 5th wards, due to the prevalence of shootings in these areas. These communities are primarily comprised of people of color (61% Hispanic/Latinx and 26% Black or African American), who have been historically disadvantaged, marginalized and underserved. With nearly 150,000 residents, Paterson is New Jersey’s third most populous city, but has one of the lowest per capita income levels in the state. Nearly 30% of the city's population lives in poverty (three times the state average). The PHC anticipates serving 60 victims and their families who are impacted by violence and trauma. Although 60 victims will be enrolled in the program, the PHC receives up to 100 referrals annually. Goals & Objectives: The PHC strives to address the pressing and unmet needs and significant service gaps within the city of Paterson, resulting in a safer and healthier community and has set the following two goals to achieve during the 12-month grant period • The PHC will address gun violence intervention to reduce the risk of retaliation and also address prevention to reduce the amount of gun violence incidents that occur in the community of Paterson • The PHC will focus on healing the community impacted by violence and provide access to mental health support and services These goals will be achieved through the implementation of the strategies and interventions identified below. Strategies/Interventions: • Engage and enroll at least 60 victims and create short-term safety plans • Coordinate 20 community events (Healing Spaces) that typically engage 300 residents • Provide one-on-one counseling services • Facilitate up to 24 male and female support groups • Graduate up to 50% of enrolled clients