Grant Partners

Burlington Public Schools will pilot Collaborative Care in Schools, a team-based mental health care approach created to complement existing school services. The pilot will enhance behavioral health support for students and families without additional costs to the school districts. A specialized mental health care team will be deployed to Burlington Public Schools, consisting of a behavioral health care manager, a licensed clinician with a master's level in behavioral health, and a nurse practitioner. Additionally, a consulting psychiatrist will be available once a week to meet with the mental health care team. This model aims to cater to both students and faculty members of Burlington Public Schools and work toward reducing barriers to mental health services and providing personalized care that meets each student's unique needs. 

The Fishing Partnership (TFP) will increase behavioral health equity in Massachusetts fishing communities by promoting the availability and accessibility of behavioral health support with a focus on cultural competency and language accessibility. This funding will allow TFP to integrate behavioral health access within its existing community health worker program by training TFP Navigators in behavioral health with Riverside Trauma Center (RTC). This will enhance the Navigators’ ability to respond to traumatic incidents in the fishing industry alongside the RTC team of clinicians.

Community Servings will pilot a “step-down program” for clients who have received medically tailored meals but have become well enough to transition away from home-delivery service.  The program will provide a pathway to address food and nutrition insecurity.  The step-down program will provide medically tailored food boxes, a cookbook with simple recipes, cooking demonstration videos, nutrition education, and support from a registered dietitian nutritionist.

In collaboration with Community Care Cooperative (C3) (an accountable care organization that funds 24 Federally Qualified Health Centers across Massachusetts) Mandela Yoga Project will pilot a peer-led, culturally responsive, trauma-responsive mind-body intervention at Uphams Corner Health Center (Uphams) and Brockton Neighborhood Health Center. The pilot will address disparities in diabetes and hypertension by increasing the percentage of diabetes patients with controlled blood pressure, increasing the percentage of diabetes patients with A1C control, and improving member experience.

Luminosity Behavioral Health Services will develop an improved responsive behavioral health model in communities of color throughout southeastern Massachusetts.  As the co-convenor and fiscal agent for the South East Multicultural Providers Association (SEMPA), Luminosity and its collaborative partners are aiming to end the “scavenger hunt” for supportive, culturally sensitive therapeutic interventions that exist in the region.  SEMPA members will implement cross-agency agreements to address the availability of services, youth advocacy and referrals.  The goal is to train and certify 60 staff members in applying trauma-specific interventions, create a standardized referral process and policies to reduce long waitlists across the participating organizations, and increase the pool of multicultural health professionals and youth mentors serving the needs of Brockton families.

The Primary Care Physician-Community Health Center (PCP-CHC) Early Psychosis Outreach Initiative will improve care for youth and young adults with early psychosis and their families, particularly those experiencing inequities and discrimination due to race, income, or other factors.  The PCP-CHC Outreach Initiative will work with primary care practices statewide, focusing on community health centers serving diverse youth from families with low-incomes. The Brookline Center will provide education, consultation, and technical assistance on psychosis, screening tools, and methodologies. They will support primary care practices to improve clinical assessment and offer ongoing support as staff incorporate these skills into their workflow.

Martha’s Vineyard Community Services will create a co-responder pilot program to address the lack of behavioral health care access for island residents, who typically engage with mental health and substance use services only through 911 calls to police.  The new program will link a qualified behavioral health clinician with local law enforcement to create a pathway to community-based services, diverting residents from detainment, arrest, or transport to the hospital emergency department.

Transformational Prison Project (TPP) will provide trauma-informed behavioral health services for returning youthful offenders (those incarcerated before age 21 and released as adults) returning to their communities. TPP will provide comprehensive re-entry support, including case management, regular check-ins, and referrals. This project will allow TPP to build the foundation for this work and prepare it for scale. By the end of the grant, the project aims to show significant positive impacts on participants' mental health, successful community reintegration, and reduced recidivism. 

Prisoners’ Legal Services will develop a project to increase access to medical parole by creating an infrastructure for pro bono attorneys and medical advocates to collaborate on prisoner petitions.  Prisons are not equipped to handle the health care needs of seriously ill or dying prisoners, and medical parole is seen as the best alternative. To increase support for eligible incarcerated individuals, the nonprofit will identify and train pro bono attorneys who can respond to referrals, forge connections between the attorneys and pro bono medical providers, and develop resource materials and communications to family members.

William James College’s Center for Workforce Development (CWD) will pilot a Behavioral Health Service Corps for Men of Color (BHSC-MOC) to address the urgent need for frontline behavioral health workers from under resourced communities. This pipeline program aims to diversify the behavioral health field as well as serve as a catalyst for building a sustainable workforce that can address mental health and substance use disparities among historically underserved communities in Massachusetts. 

Walker, Inc, will conduct a feasibility study for a therapeutic preschool model and develop an effective intervention for the growing number of preschool-age children with challenging behaviors who are at risk of suspension or expulsion from early education and care programs in the Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston.  Walker, Inc. will research the issue, outline a sustainable funding model, and prepare to launch a pilot preschool program.

The Maternal Wellness Support Program intends to “Pave a Path to Wellness'' for expecting mothers and mothers within the first year of birth. The Cape and Islands Maternal Depression Task Force (CIMDTF) will address the critical need for nonclinical emotional support for new mothers while building the capacity to create a sustainable, evidence-based peer network of trained moms. The project expands upon (1) training expecting parents on the realities and possibilities of new motherhood; (2) training parents to be peer mentors to new and expecting parents; and (3) supporting new parents after birth with free home visiting by a doula.

Worcester RISE Health Clinic will provide cross-cultural and trauma-informed training for behavioral health services and staff of community-based organizations with the specific lens of how to better serve new migrant arrivals to area service providers. Specifically, Worcester RISE will develop a model for mental health training of frontline workers to scale up the local capacity to build a network of trauma-informed and culturally sensitive behavioral health providers in Worcester to increase access to culturally sensitive services.

Neighborhood Villages (NV) seeks to build a multi-layered, centrally coordinated behavioral health support model to meet the acute behavioral health needs in early childhood education settings. NV will pilot and evaluate the onsite delivery of early childhood mental health services, beginning with placing an Early Childhood Mental Health consultant in early childhood classrooms at the East Boston Social Centers.

Girls Inc. of the Valley will advance health and health equity by creating a new mental health program that provides low-barrier, no-cost mental health services to low-income BIPOC youth who participate in Girls Inc. programs. They can reach youth in a trusted setting by embedding new mental health services into their programs.