Slide 1:Caring Across Communities Collaborative Portland, Maine Multilingual and Multicultural Center Portland Public Schools


Presenter Disclosure :Presenter Disclosure Lisa Belanger, MSN, NP The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: No relationships to disclose


Portland Demographics :Portland, Maine Portland Demographics City Population ~ 64,000 Total Student Body ~ 7,000 60 different countries represented > 50 languages 6 SBHCS serving ~ 1700 students , 4-64% minorities


Slide 4:Challenges Portland, Maine Many small cultural communities Language barriers Giving up control Political climate (Cold!) Weather climate (Cold!) Foreign healing beliefs and practices Project sustainability.


Slide 5:Portland, Maine To design, develop, and implement a mental health service delivery system --from prevention, intervention, and treatment-- for immigrant and refugee children and families that recognizes the cultural norms and values of their communities. The Goal:


Slide 6: Portland, Maine Community Providers of MH Services Schools and school-based MH providers Refugee Resettlement Center Other social service providers Children and families Public Health


Slide 7:Caring Across Communities Collaborative Portland, Maine Objectives:   #1: To engage refugee and immigrant families #2: To deepen and expand understanding of helping professionals #3: To increase the utilization of mental health services


Slide 8:#1 Engagement Strategies Portland, Maine Hire bicultural/bilingual staff as consultants and cultural brokers. Community Conversations Understand and appreciate the internal dynamics of communities. Honor and build on community interests, priorities, and assets. Support and be visible in multicultural events Leverage existing institutional relationships


Slide 9:#2 Helping the Helpers Portland, Maine Provider Surveys and Focus Groups Training Series - Culturally Responsive Practice Interpreter Training Structured Dialogues


:#3 Increasing Access Portland, Maine Student Outreach Teams Portland Mentoring Alliance Safe & Smart Program Multilingual Summer Program Heritage Language Class Multicultural Parent Trainings Student support groups Case management services Individual counseling Trauma-focused CBT


Slide 11: Parents and Community Members Bicultural Staff CAC Collaborative Steering Committee Formal/Informal Community Leaders Approach to Empowerment


Slide 12: Programs Partnerships Process Culturally Responsive Trauma-Informed Program and Activities Reflective Consultative Intercultural CAC Collaborative Steering Committee Meaningful Community Partnerships Approach to Empowerment


Slide 13: Prevention Intervention Treatment Olweus Bullying Prevention Center for Prevention of Hate Expeditionary Learning Responsive Classroom Portland Mentoring Alliance Safe and Smart Heritage Language Class Multilingual Summer Program Parent Training Case Management Student Support Groups One-on-One Support Individual counseling TF-CBT Crisis Services Services CAC Collaborative


Slide 14:Successful Partnership Elements Portland, Maine Shared vision and goals. Clearly defined roles and process for decision making. Power-sharing Structure for communication, planning, and evaluation. Joint introspection, reflection, and learning. Support for each other’s work and invested in each other’s success.


Slide 15:Outcomes: Portland, Maine Caseload of refugee and immigrant students among school-based social workers have more than doubled. Documented increase in knowledge and understanding of the target linguistic groups among school staff and community-based providers. Some funding received to expand and extend the goals of the project. Strong and meaningful community collaboration.


Slide 16: Portland, Maine Questions?


Slide 17:Lessons Learned: Portland, Maine Seek first to understand, then be understood Recognize & acknowledge culturally-bound beliefs Surrender control/Tolerate ambiguity Thoughtful process leads to successful outcomes Challenge the norm, seek new models of healing


:Caring Across Communities Collaborative Portland, Maine