Launchpad: empowering families and professionals through behavioral health education - gemma's launchpad program: empowering families and professionals through behavioral health education aims to…

Launchpad: empowering families and professionals through behavioral health education - gemma's launchpad program: empowering families and professionals through behavioral health education aims to address the unmet needs of children ages 0-8 in southeast pennsylvania through three specific strategies: 1) a focuses campaign on connecting existing services to families; 2) providing an evidence-based training program (mental health first aid) for adults who have contact with youth and caregivers and 3) offering an evidence-based parenting program (family check-up online) for families with a child ages 2-8. The overall goal of the launchpad program is to promote child wellness by building capacities in adult caregivers to promote healthy social and emotional development and to educate professionals in the community to identify and address behavioral concerns before they develop into serious emotional disturbances. Gemma services, located in both philadelphia and montgomery counties, has extensive experience providing education, behavioral health and prevention services to children and families in the surrounding communities. This work has highlighted the critical need for early detection of mental health symptoms in young children and their caregivers, as well as services that are easily accessible and well-coordinated within the systems of care. Gemma's launchpad program intends to serve approximately 4,000 individuals each year, with 20,000 being served over the five-year life of the grant-funded program. Families with children ages 0-8 in the pennsylvania counties of philadelphia, montgomery and delaware will be the focus of the launchpad program. The pennsylvania future ready index from 2022 indicates that 57-96.6% of all children in these targeted communities are economically disadvantaged with 14-23% being enrolled in special education. The communities are comprised primarily of people of color, with 32-85% of the children identified as black, 10-47% identified as hispanic, 12-31% identified as white and the remaining identified as asian, pacific islander, native american or two or more races. The launchpad specific program goals are to: 1) support up to 1000 families at a time by providing education about early childhood and caregiver mental health, coaching in positive parenting practices, and robust screening and assessment tools to help identify additional needs and services. The interventions will be to offer the evidence-based practice called family check-up online and supported by family support partners that connect and support the families through the process and in navigating the local system of care. 2) implement a public awareness campaign to promote early childhood development, and mental health support through established partnerships with childcare, healthcare, schools, early intervention programs, and the organizations interacting with these entities and community members in philadelphia, montgomery and delaware counties. 3) to facilitate system change by increasing ease of access to information and services by bringing key stakeholders together. Launchpad will establish and lead a youth child wellness council (ycwc) with representation from healthcare, behavioral health, education, childcare , head start, child welfare and early intervention partners. Measures of success for this program include number of families and children participating in the family check-up online model, participants trained in mental health first aid, participating entities in the ycwc, and ultimately the number of families and children receiving the identified services they need within their own communities.