Encuentros: scaling a community-based model of emotional support - for this project, we propose to scale and expand identity's successful evidence-based encuentros program, which provides low-income…

Encuentros: scaling a community-based model of emotional support - for this project, we propose to scale and expand identity's successful evidence-based encuentros program, which provides low-income latino and other historically underserved youth and families access to desperately needed non-clinical community-based mental health support. The main goals and objectives of the project are as follows: - formalize, design and produce shareable versions of 1) the encuentros curriculum and group facilitation guide, and 2) training guide for community mental health workers (cmhws). These materials have been piloted and continuously improved and are now ready to be designed for use electronically and in hard copy. This step will facilitate the training and consistent use of the curriculum and training materials by cmhws and staff. - train 12 new cmhws to CO-facilitate encuentros groups in order to reach more community members who are suffering. The cmhws are natural connectors and trusted leaders in their community, involved in multiple school, faith, neighborhood, work and other local networks. - translate our curriculum, training guide and evaluation survey instruments from spanish into english. This step will allow US to offer encuentros groups to members of our community who prefer english. - integrate existing encuentros program evaluation data into identity's overall client data management system, customize fields and reports and train identity staff on these improvements. This step acknowledges and supports the standardization of encuentros as IT moves past the piloting phase to long-term sustainability and scalability. Identity's non-clinical community-based encuentros program was established in 2020 to address the urgent and growing need for emotional support among montgomery county MD's latino population, the county's fastest growing demographic. Many latino youth and their families face significant mental health struggles related to unaddressed toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences (aces), acculturation, family separation and reunification, language barriers, housing insecurity, and economic instability, all of which were significantly compounded by the covid-19 pandemic. While clinical mental health support for latinos was already hard to find before the pandemic due to a lack of spanish-speaking clinicians and the cost of therapy, covid-related job, food, housing and health insecurities further traumatized those that were already suffering and overwhelmed clinical capacity. To meet this need, encuentros provides youth and families from historically underserved latino communities with no-cost, culturally and linguistically appropriate emotional support groups. These groups offer a safe space for participants to engage in open discussion about mental and emotional health challenges and develop strategies for managing them. The program was designed with and for the latino community, and group sessions are delivered by trained and trusted community members (community mental health workers) with support from identity's bilingual staff. In spanish, "encuentros" is the act of coming together.