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New Initiative Will Fund School-Based Mental Health Services for Children and Youth |
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) launched a new program to support partnerships between schools and mental health service providers to reduce emotional and behavioral problems among children in low-income, refugee- and immigrant-dense communities. Caring Across Communities: Addressing Mental Health Needs of Diverse Children and Youth, is a three-year, $4.5 million national program that advances RWJF's efforts to meet the needs of vulnerable families who may not be served by traditional health and social services. The program will be led by Julia Graham Lear, Ph.D., director of the Center for Health & Health Care in Schools (CHHCS) at George Washington University's School of Public Health & Health Services. Caring Across Communities places special emphasis on helping schools work with community organizations to reduce the significant cultural and language barriers to quality mental health services that face children of immigrant and refugee families. Immigrant and refugee populations are growing in size in communities across the nation, and their health and social service needs are expanding as well. Studies show that, while as many as one in five U.S. children experience some signs of a mental disorder, their needs too often go unmet---especially among non-white children. In particular, children from immigrant and refugee families often face economic, social and personal hardships related to the family's relocation to another country; these factors---poverty, separation from family members and the challenges of acculturation---may influence their mental health and overall well-being. In an effort to fill this gap, the Caring Across Communities program will provide and promote innovative approaches that are culturally, developmentally and language-appropriate to address the complex psychosocial issues affecting immigrant and refugee families. Schools, faith-based organizations, multicultural service agencies and community mental health centers have become important sites for services and interventions tailored to the unique needs of these populations, and they will be key partners in Caring Across Communities grant projects. "It's crucial to develop strategies to help overcome barriers to mental health services for children of immigrants and refugees," said Julia Graham Lear, Ph.D., director of the Center for Health & Health Care in Schools and research professor at GWU's School of Public Health and Health Services.
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