Project Launch
Rhode Island
Funded Years : 2008
Project Director :
Sue Libutti
404-793-8220
slibutti@lifespan.org
Address :
Rhode Island Department of Health 3 Capitol Hill
Providence,RI 02908
Project Status : Active
Project Summary : Project LAUNCH strives to build on Successful Start, Rhode Island's early childhood system integration initiative to promote physical and mental wellness for all young children (birth to eight) who are developing in a context of risk. Multidisciplinary leaders and stakeholders involved in this dynamic, cross-sector initiative aim to expand their public health approach to children's wellness through several evidence-based interventions in primary care and early childhood education settings. Through LAUNCH services, the state expects to help more young children and their families with expanded health promotion and prevention activities.
LAUNCH targets the city of Providence, the state's main urban core, whose families with young children disproportionately experience challenges associated with poverty, including child abuse, homelessness, and low-birth weight. The city's diverse population includes significant numbers of immigrant families from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, China, and Korea, who are more likely to experience health issues and difficulty accessing health and mental health services. A critical shortage of culturally and linguistically competent mental health providers compounds the challenge, as does a lack of family-friendly, culturally competent information on children's mental health and wellness.
Project LAUNCH goals are:
State level:
• Implement system infrastructure to continue to align state agency policies, reduce service redundancies, ensure continuity, and secure sustainable program funding
• Develop and support an organizational structure to support the state's Early Childhood System plan and to ensure service integration and ease of access for all young children from birth to age eight and their families
• Evaluate local RI LAUNCH activities to inform expansion for all young children and families across the state
Local level:
• Implement a mental health consultation model in pediatric health care and child care settings to expand and improve professional capacity for promoting social and emotional wellness and to ensure comprehensive supports and services for high risk families
Strategies
State-level goals will be pursued by building elements of a comprehensive and coordinated system of preventative health services for pregnant women, young children, and families. At the local level, RI LAUNCH will build capacity to provide less intensive, community-based, and preventive mental health services to ensure a full public health approach. Specifically, LAUNCH will implement mental health consultation in medical homes, including parent support and education services. In child care settings LAUNCH will expand direct mental health consultation to staff, families, and children.
Expected Outcomes
RI LAUNCH expects to improve the quality of health and wellness services to young children and their families in medical homes and child care programs through multiple supports. As a result of these changes, children and families are expected to be better able to increase social and emotional competence and behavior regulation, build capacity for positive parenting, improve parent-child interactions and overall health of family functioning, and reduce progress toward diagnosable mental health problems.
Evidence-Based Programs :
Incredible Years
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
