Project Grant H79SM084740

CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE LATINX MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING PROGRAM - THE CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE LATINX MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING PROGRAM IS A GRASSROOTS, PLACE-BASED EFFORT TO ADDRESS BARRIERS TO CARE THROUGH PROVIDING SPANISH-LANGUAGE MHFA, YMHFA, AND QPR TRAININGS WITH A FOCUS ON IMPROVED CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS, NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT, AND RESOURCE REFERRALS. THE PROGRAM WILL TRAIN AT LEAST 225 COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE FIRST YEAR AND OVER 1600 PARTICIPANTS IN FIVE YEARS. TO BUILD ADDITIONAL TRAINING CAPACITY AND IN RESPONSE TO NEEDS IDENTIFIED BY OREGON'S EXISTING LATINX MENTAL HEALTH TRAINERS, THE PROGRAM WILL ALSO INCLUDE MONTHLY, WEB-BASED SPANISH-LANGUAGE LEARNING COLLABORATIVES FOR MHFA AND QPR TRAINERS ACROSS THE STATE. HEALTH AND ECONOMIC DISPARITIES HAVE BEEN EXACERBATED BY COVID-19, LEAVING OREGON'S ALREADY UNDERSERVED LATINX COMMUNITIES IN NEED OF MORE FOCUSED, ACCESSIBLE SUPPORT. 13% OF OREGON'S TOTAL RESIDENTS, AND 25% OF OREGON'S YOUTH, IDENTIFY AS LATINO/A/X. IN OREGON'S URBAN HUB, MULTNOMAH COUNTY, LATINX FAMILIES ARE 154% MORE LIKELY TO LIVE IN POVERTY THAN WHITES AND ROUGHLY ONE-THIRD ARE WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE. FOR THESE COMMUNITIES, DELIVERING TRAININGS AT NATURAL CONTACT POINTS SUCH AS FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, COMMUNITY CENTERS, AND SCHOOLS IS CRITICAL, AND IT EMPOWERS COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER THROUGH CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TRAINING TO PROMOTE INCREASED AWARENESS OF MENTAL HEALTH DISTRESS AND IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF AVAILABLE RESOURCES. THIS PROGRAM WILL BE SUPPORTED BY A FULL-TIME BILINGUAL COMMUNITY TRAINING SPECIALIST (BCTS). LINES FOR LIFE'S STATEWIDE NETWORK OF QPR TRAINERS AND OUR LONG-STANDING RELATIONSHIP WITH OREGON'S MHFA STATEWIDE PROGRAM POSITIONS US WELL TO DYNAMICALLY ASSESS AND RESPOND TO NEEDS ACROSS THE STATE. QPR HAS PROVEN TO BE A STRONG INTRODUCTORY TRAINING WHILE MHFA PROVIDES A BROADER TRAINING WITH ADDED TIME FOR DISCUSSION. OFFERING BOTH TRAININGS WILL ALLOW INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANTS AND ORGANIZATIONS TO ENGAGE IN PROGRAMMING THAT BEST FITS THEIR NEEDS. THIS FLEXIBILITY WILL ALLOW LINES FOR LIFE TO PROVIDE TIMELY, FOCUSED RESPONSE TO THE NEEDS OF THE LATINX COMMUNITY. THE BCTS WILL ALSO SUPPORT SPANISH-SPEAKING TRAINERS ALREADY PARTICIPATING IN OUR STATEWIDE NETWORK WITH OUTREACH, CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE RESOURCE LISTS, AND LEARNING COLLABORATIVES TO PROVIDE SUSTAINABLE AND EXTENSIVE TRAINING REACH ACROSS OREGON. THE BCTS WILL ALSO PROMOTE QPR AND MHFA TRAIN-THE-TRAINER OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW THE NETWORK OF SPANISH-LANGUAGE TRAINERS.