Healthy Connections West

Topics	Children Economic development Mental health Youth
States served	Florida
Description	Healthy Connections West was designed to address this pervasive poverty cycle through the Healthy Connections West Consortium led by the Western Palm Beach County Mental Health Clinic (WPBCMHC) in collaboration with the Gladeview Elementary School, Palm Glades Rural Health, Big Brothers/Big Sisters (BB/BS), and the FAU Community Wellness Program. The project sought to provide mental health intervention services to targeted children and their families in order to achieve improved academic and social performance.
Services offered	Therapists from WPBCMHC taught social skills to students, addressed behavior concerns of teachers, and designed interventions to help parents become more effective in their parenting. WPBCMHC also provided stress reduction workshops for teachers and administrators at Gladeview Elementary. Family advocates worked with parents to help them open and maintain communication with their children's teachers and school administrators. BB/BS mentors from the high school were recruited to work with students at the elementary school.
Results	The Healthy Connections West project was able to reach over 130 families in the Glades area during the 3-year grant period. In 10 percent of the cases, a child who completed the program was referred again if the presenting problem reappeared or new problems developed. Ten percent of the participants moved away from the area or chose to terminate their program participation before completion. In total, the project worked with 161 children (15 of whom were repeat clients) and 131 guardians - short of the targeted goal of 240 children.
Replication	In order for this project model to work well in other areas, it is essential to understand how much importance the target population gives to the problem and proposed solution rather than assume that they will simply adopt an objective outsider's point-of-view. If these views differ greatly, as in the case of this project, then more time will be needed to modify the proposed solutions or to modify the views of the target population.
Source	Outreach Sourcebook, Vol. 9, 1999-2002, Office of Rural Health Policy
Contact person	Kathy Mulvaney, M.A., Program Director West Palm Beach County Mental Health Clinic, Inc. 408 Southeast Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard Belle Glade, FL 33430 Phone: (561) 992-1300 Fax: (561) 992-1335 E-mail: kyork41@yahoo.com
Date added	July 7, 2005

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