Project Launch

California

Funded Years : 2009

Project Director :
Patsy Hampton
916-799-3211
phampto@wested.org

Address :
1615 Capitol Avenue Fifth Floor
Sacramento,CA 95814

Project Status : Active

Project Summary : California Project LAUNCH seeks to leverage systems and neighborhood work in Alameda County to create a continuum of age-appropriate developmental services for more than 4,500 young children over the next five years. Through LAUNCH, the state and local Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Programs will partner with First 5 Alameda County (F5AC) to demonstrate the feasibility and impact of policy changes related to developing and maintaining a comprehensive developmental continuum to help children be healthy and ready to learn.

Alameda County is well-positioned to serve as the local partner, with East Oakland as the pilot site for California's LAUNCH project. Children in East Oakland face substantial challenges across the spectrum of physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and behavioral health. Life expectancy in East Oakland is 6.9 years lower than the county average. Homicide is the fourth leading cause of death among Latinos and African Americans in East Oakland, and the city's homicide rate is four times the county average. Screenings indicate high rates of maternal depression. Poverty is an enormous problem, with more than 65 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. East Oakland is home to a large, ethnically diverse population, and many residents face significant cultural and linguistic barriers to accessing health and social services. In summary, East Oakland children are at high risk of developing lifelong emotional and physical health issues and to date have had limited access to programs and services that support family-based protective factors.

Under the umbrella of California's Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems grant, the California Department of Health, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Division, established the Statewide Screening Collaborative to enhance the state's capacity to promote effective and well-coordinated health, developmental, and early mental health screenings for young children. The Collaborative will serve as Project LAUNCH's State Child Wellness Council to promote synergy among LAUNCH activities.

At the local level, F5AC has played a pivotal role in improving systems by bridging early care and education with family support, health, and other community services. F5AC is implementing a countywide children's Screening, Assessment, Referral, and Treatment (SART) system to support young children's school readiness. A committee of the SART Leadership Council, in conjunction with East Oakland community leaders and other local public health and social service agency representatives, will serve as the LAUNCH Local Child Wellness Council. East Oakland also has the advantage of having been recently selected by The California Endowment to be one of 14 primary sites for Building Healthy Communities, a 10-year, place-based initiative to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities in California.

Project LAUNCH Goals

At the state level:
• Develop policies that support systems integration and reform
• Strengthen the infrastructure of and coordination and collaboration among state systems serving young children and their families

At the local level:
• Strengthen the infrastructure of and coordination and collaboration among East Oakland systems serving young children and their families
• Strengthen the capacity of early childhood professionals to provide integrated and comprehensive services to young children and their families
• Expand existing programs to reach larger numbers of East Oakland's residents, particularly those most at risk

Strategies

To achieve these goals, a number of specific strategies will be employed:
• Identify adequate reimbursement strategies and incentives for pediatric providers to conduct maternal depression screening and developmental/social-emotional screening at well-child visits
• Collaborate with Departments of Mental Health and Education to identify a funding stream to support mental health consultation in primary care, early care, and education settings
• Collaborate with Departments of Health, Developmental Disabilities, Education, and Mental Health to accept common screening and assessment tools, improve system efficiency, and create common home-visiting program standards that integrate multidisciplinary teams
• Expand outreach and support for developmental and social-emotional screening at pediatric practices and early care and education sites located in East Oakland or serving large numbers of the city's residents
• Expand the Your Family Counts home-visiting program to include enrollment of high-risk prenatal and postpartum mothers residing in East Oakland
• Expand access to mental health consultation services for early care and education providers
• Expand summer pre-K programs in East Oakland, and train school personnel and families to support the transition from pre-K to kindergarten
• Integrate Strengthening Families principles into all LAUNCH programs and community services in East Oakland

Expected Outcomes

A desired long-term outcome is statewide policy change to ensure that every child in California ages 0–8 receives comprehensive, culturally responsive developmental and social-emotional screening, referral, treatment (if indicated), and follow-up support as a common practice. Another desired outcome is to establish mechanisms to promote and support collaboration across child-serving agencies at the state and local levels. An expected outcome is that Project LAUNCH will serve more than 900 East Oakland children annually in a continuum of evidence-based practices in the areas of developmental and social-emotional assessment, integration of behavioral health programs into primary care, home visiting, early childhood mental health consultation, and family strengthening.

Evidence-Based Programs :
Strengthening Families Program
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
Healthy Steps