Project Launch

District of Columbia

Funded Years : 2009

Project Director :
Tatiana Tucker
202-442-9008
Tatiana.Tucker@dc.gov

Address :
825 North Capitol St, NE
Washington,DC 20002

Project Status : Active

Project Summary : Project LAUNCH funds allow the District of Columbia (D.C.) Department of Health (DOH) to create a system of connected programs to increase and improve services to children ages 0–8 and their families in the city's poorest neighborhoods. Project LAUNCH brings local child-serving agencies together to coordinate and streamline policies and practices for families and children most in need, and to fill service gaps where they exist. D.C. Project LAUNCH will provide culturally competent, family-centered, and age-appropriate initiatives. All activities associated with Project LAUNCH will include cultural sensitivity training.

The target area serves children and families residing in Wards 7 and 8—areas that demonstrate alarming health and economic disparities and suffer disproportionately from elevated indicators of ill health. In these Wards, unemployment is high, and drug use and violence are prevalent; the per capita income is the lowest of anywhere in D.C. Children living in these communities are largely poor, African American, and living in single-parent households. They have limited access to primary care and mental health services when compared to their counterparts throughout the city. These children need the most help but have the fewest options outside the public social services system.

Project LAUNCH Goals

• Establish the D.C. Council on Young Child Wellness (DCCYCW), which will oversee all Project LAUNCH activities and develop a comprehensive strategy for both infrastructure and programmatic work
• Create systems within D.C. agencies and community-based organizations that will continually be incorporated into Project LAUNCH initiatives as a result of regular DCCYCW meetings
• Bring local child-serving agencies together to coordinate and streamline policies and practices for families and children most in need and to fill service gaps where they exist
• Implement mental health consultation:
o Use a model of consultation in which mental health workers provide programmatic and child- and family-centered consultation to both program staff and children and families, by way of a training/coaching model with staff and direct consultation with families and children
o Implement mental health consultation into at least 10 day care centers in the D.C. area, including Head Start
o Use the Incredible Years curricula (both Parents and Dina Dinosaur) for children and families as a vehicle to provide more intensive treatment through consultation
o Expand on the Department of Mental Health's Primary Project, a school-based mental health program
• Integrate behavioral health into primary care by partnering with the Office of the State Superintendent for Education to integrate training on screening tools for providers in a variety of clinic settings, Head Start, and other early care and learning settings
• Increase family support and parent education by partnering with the Child and Family Services Agency to implement the Parent Education Support Program, which joins with community partners to support families by implementing the Strengthening Families Program curricula
• Increase home visiting by incorporating the Parents as Teachers program within the existing DOH Healthy Start program, and providing a five-day implementation training to Healthy Start family support workers

Strategies

Project LAUNCH will achieve these goals, in part, by using a variety of culturally sensitive and evidence-based-programs, each with a specific target audience:

• Incredible Years (children ages 2–8 and parents/caregivers)
• Primary Project (children ages 5–8)
• Ages and Stages Questionnaire (children ages 6 months–5 years)
• Parents as Teachers: Born to Learn (prenatal care, children ages 0–2, and parents)
• Strengthening Families (children ages 3–8 and parents)

Expected Outcomes

Through Project LAUNCH, D.C. expects to increase the number of services and supports provided to young children and families, decrease fragmentation in the child- and family-serving systems, and build greater synergy and collaboration across programs in the District. The overarching efforts of Project LAUNCH will be to link these disparate programs into one cohesive system and to develop and implement new initiatives where necessary.

Project LAUNCH hopes to serve 1,440 children and families in the first year. Other expected outcomes for the community over the life of the project include expansion of the Primary Project to three more schools, serving an additional 240 children. Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation will be implemented in 10 early child care educational or Head Start centers and serve 540 children and 250 staff; of those children, 256 will be offered Incredible Years. Strengthening Families will be offered to 100 families. Parents as Teachers: Born to Learn will be offered through the Healthy Start Home Visitation Program to 300 mothers and families.

Evidence-Based Programs :
Parents as Teachers
Primary Project
Strengthening Families Program
Incredible Years
Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)
Effective Black Parenting