Model and Strategy
Children and teens in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park (“Ravenswood”) are not getting the mental health support they need and deserve due to a lack of availability of services, limited coordination of resources, and barriers to access like stigma, fear, cultural factors, transportation, cost, and time.
The Ravenswood Wellness Partnership is a collaborative of community organizations in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park working together to increase capacity and create equitable access to mental health support for Ravenswood youth. Through an integrated approach that includes accessible therapy during the school day and after school, accessible family partners, multi-lingual parent education, relevant and responsive teacher training, case management, and systems coordination across providers and schools, the Ravenswood Wellness Partnership is working to support students in Ravenswood City School District with mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, and behavior issues—supporting the whole child and leading to earlier intervention and better outcomes for children and teens in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park.
Impact
Key impacts are: Each RCSD school has a mental health services team in place (includes therapists, family partners, trainers, mental health services consultant, County when necessary) to support each student with mental health issues • Increased depth of service for Ravenswood students and their families during the school day and after school hours • Increased resource awareness levels and coordination among providers in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park: knowing where to refer and confidently hand off • Increased number of bilingual local providers meeting families and youth where they are at (schools, churches, employment, etc). • Increased availability of services as demonstrated by decreased wait times/shorter time from referral to access • Increased utilization-more families are in the system; referrals that actually connect; more linkage success • More parents/caregivers, teachers/educators, community members/family partners trained in trauma informed practices while engaging students, reducing stigma and increasing awareness of available services • Teachers/mentors/staff feeling supported and know where to refer families who need additional support • Reduction in number of Ravenswood students exhibiting moderate to severe externalizing and internalizing behaviors • Families have positive opinions about reaching out for services--feel safe, secure, like it’s worthwhile • Decrease in youth and children involved in juvenile justice system • Improved quality of life for Ravenswood students and families.
We will be measuring outcomes and plan to utilize a precision medicine approach to evaluate and address the complex needs of Ravenswood youth so we can track change over time.
Leadership
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Dr. Rosalie Whitlock
CEO
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Dr. Ramsey Khasho
Chief Clinical Officer
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Manisha Agrawal
Director of Strategic Projects