Result Area 2: Prevent and Act Early
Result Area 2 is focused on ensuring that effective prevention and early intervention services are available to all Orange County residents. The Orange County Department of Education (OCDE), First 5 Orange County, Children’s Cause, Orange County Social Services Administration, Western Youth Services, Orange County Aging Services Collaborative, and Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County are serving as the backbone organizations for this result area.
Early on, stakeholders involved with Result Area 2 identified a need to organize workgroups by age group, including: prenatal to age 5, school-aged children, transitional aged youth (TAY), adults, and older adults. Stakeholders recognize that strategies and interventions will need to be further refined to meet specific needs of the diversity of cultural groups, including ethnic/racial, sexual orientation and gender identities, deaf and hard of hearing, and others.
Result Area Action Plan
Backbone organizations and impact organizations have collaborated in a planning process spanning the age groups to come to agreement on three cross-population overarching strategies, interventions/activities, and short- and long-term outcomes.
Overarching Strategies and Sub-Populations
Prevent and Act Early
Prenatal to 5
Long Term Outcome
Effective prevention and early intervention available to all OC residents.
Strategies and Activities
Promote Resilience, Protective Factors, and Positive Support of Social Determinants of Health
- Support and expand early child mental health (ECMH) promotion in Early Childhood Education (ECE) settings
- Identify and promote accessible social-emotional curriculum for preschool/transitional kindergarten (TK)
- Connect with and engage cities and communities who are focusing on early childhood
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased number of ECE sites receiving ECMH consultation
- Increased number preschool/TK classrooms using social emotional curriculum
Improve Early Detection and Diagnosis of Mental Health Illnesses and Substance-Use Disorders Across Care Settings
- Review and address barriers to screening
- Support implementation of universal early childhood screenings
- Support perinatal MH and opioid/SUD screenings
- Create post-screening referral pathways
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased number of mothers/children receiving MH and opioid/SUD screenings
- Developed post-screening referral pathways
Increase Outreach, Education, and Engagement for Community Families, Behavioral Health and Primary Care Providers, and Allied Professionals
- Embed an ECMH focus in the curriculum of existing residency/nursing programs
- Connect, aligned, and leverage new MHSA training funding and advise on content to include ECMH
- Expand on or conduct a countywide awareness campaign on importance of social-emotional development
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased number of training programs incorporating ECMH into their curricula
- Improved competency of child providers on ECMH
- Increased public awareness on importance of social-emotional development
Prevent and Act Early
School Aged Children
Long Term Outcome
Strategies and Activities
Promote Resilience, Protective Factors, and Positive Support of Social Determinants of Health
- Support the development of one-stop drop-in wellness center (“Chill Zone”)
- Identify successful school-based, evidence-based mindfulness and meditation curriculum
- Identify and support trainings to school and “Out of School Time” staff in different approaches for building protective factors
Short Term Outcomes
- One-stop drop-in wellness center created
- School employees trained on mindfulness/meditation practices
- School employees trained on protective factors
Improve Early Detection and Diagnosis of Mental Health Illnesses and Substance-Use Disorders Across Care Settings
- Explore and understand barriers to implementation of universal screenings for each population and culture sub-group
- Identify list of evidence-based MH/SUD screenings for each population and culture sub-group
- Develop training tools such as referral flowcharts for districts and decision-making tree for schools
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased number of youth with MH/SUD identified
- Increased access to appropriate MH/SUD services
- Identified barriers to universal screenings
Increase Outreach, Education, and Engagement for Community Families, Behavioral Health and Primary Care Providers, and Allied Professionals
- Develop a coordinated access point/ pathway (e.g., one phone number) to request for training related to MH/SUD via recent MHSA BH training funding allocation
- Expand “NAMI on campus” and other MH focused clubs
- Work with PTAs to host panel discussions and MH/SUD related film screenings
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased awareness of parents, teachers, students, and administrators about MH/SUD
- Increased positive and “mental health friendly” school campuses
- Increased willingness to discuss MH/SUD topics on campuses
Prevent and Act Early
Older Adults
Long Term Outcome
Strategies and Activities
Promote Resilience, Protective Factors, and Positive Support of Social Determinants of Health
- Identify, align, and expand successful social and wellness support programs for older adults (OA)
- Train older adult health care providers on OA MH and well-being
- Align and engage OA advocacy efforts
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased utilization of current social and wellness support programs for older adults
- Increased number of trained providers on older adults MH/SUD
- Increased OA representation and participation
Improve Early Detection and Diagnosis of Mental Health Illnesses and Substance-Use Disorders Across Care Settings
- Conduct key informant interviews to explore integration of mental health and neurocognitive screening as part of the annual Medicare medical visit
- Conduct culturally and linguistically competent screenings at non-traditional settings
- Explore and promote a post-screening referral pathways and provider follow up
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased awareness of the benefits of integrated MH and neurocognitive screenings
- Increased administration and quality of culturally and linguistically competent screenings
- Improved effectiveness of referrals and linkages to appropriate services
Increase Outreach, Education, and Engagement for Community Families, Behavioral Health and Primary Care Providers, and Allied Professionals
- Support and expand current MH/SUD campaigns to include OAs
- Provide culturally and linguistically appropriate training to family members and caretakers on OA mental health/SUD
- Host a conference or convening on OA mental health/SUD
Short Term Outcomes
- Increased awareness of older adult mental health and suicide rates in OC
- Increased awareness and knowledge of family members and caretakers on older adults MH/SUD
- Hosted an OA MH/SUD conference in OC
Key Partners / Organizations
Representatives from various community-based organizations with specialty in the different age groups and involvement in providing prevention and early intervention services, Orange County Health Care Agency, school districts, age specific collaboratives or coalitions, Orange County Social Services Administration and health systems.
