Strong milwaukee mental health program - christian family solutions (CFS) is proposing a project that will serve youth ages 4 to 10 living in and around the milwaukee area with a network of mental…

Strong milwaukee mental health program - christian family solutions (CFS) is proposing a project that will serve youth ages 4 to 10 living in and around the milwaukee area with a network of mental health care services. Through this program, we will provide day treatment services, train mental health providers and school staff, provide peer mentoring/support to families, provide consultation to professionals who work with these children, and advocate for the need for better care and early intervention services. The children we will serve are predominantly african american (91%), and nearly all (99%) come from low-income households. Our target youth struggle with disruptive behavior disorders, mood disorders, impulse-control, and a history of trauma, and exhibit behaviors that pose harm to themselves and others. Half of those we serve have some sort of intellectual dysfunction or learning challenge and many have an IEP at school. We chose this population because of the dramatic need in the city of milwaukee, and also the lack of resources to meet that need. Students living in the neighborhoods we work in deal with violence, substance use, abuse, racism, and social unrest on a daily basis, but they have few options for treatment. There are no day treatment programs in the state of wisconsin that serve children between the ages of 5 and 8, other than our program. Day treatment is important because IT is where true healing occurs, offering more structured care than outpatient, and more therapeutic care than hospitalization, which is meant to stabilize only. We will increase our framework to treat these children with day treatment services, provide parent support, train and inform school staff, train mental health professionals, and advocate for early intervention services for young children. We expect to serve the following numbers of unduplicated children with this project: year 1: 125 year 2: 150 year 3: 180 year 4: 216 year 5: 260 total: 930 goal 1: increase the number of students receiving advanced trauma-informed care in the target community. Objectives: a) facilitate a 20% increase in enrollment in pediatric trauma-informed day treatment counseling services per year; b) demonstrate a significant decrease in psychological distress in 90% of students; c) conduct 20 parent connections, support, family therapy, and coaching interactions per week with guardians of students in our program. Goal 2: recruit and train additional mental health professionals that are equipped to treat children affected by trauma. Objectives: a) recruit and supervise 30 additional counselors-in-training by the end of the 2027 school year; b) train or RE-certify 100% of program staff in a pediatric trauma care modality every year. Goal 3. Consult and educate additional professionals who interact with young children experiencing trauma. Objectives: a) host 30 care team meetings per month with teachers, parents, doctors, caseworkers, and care navigators; b) host 10 school trainings on trauma-informed care and prevention each year; c) connect with 7 advocacy partners in the community per year of the grant term to create awareness for childhood mental illness and early intervention. Goal 4. Create a pathway to program sustainability. Objectives: a) identify and implement 2 policies per year that make our program more efficient.; b) connect with 2 collaborators per year that can potentially reduce costs or increase reimbursement and coverage.