HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTIVE FACTORS

Orange County is dedicated to building the resilience of our children and their families to help prevent youth suicide. The following efforts are examples of the robust work happening in the county to improve mental and physical health outcomes for parents and children.

Community based services and networks improve outcomes through service coordination and outreach.

With the vision that Orange County will lead the nation in optimal mental health and wellness for all residents, Be Well OC brings together public, private, academic, faith-based organizations and others to create a coordinated system of mental health care for all Orange County residents.1 This cross-sector effort uses the innovative Collective Impact model. It includes a Suicide Prevention Initiative for increasing awareness and access to resources and the creation of a Suicide Prevention Coalition.

Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) provides many prevention and early intervention programs with the goals of increasing awareness of mental illness and suicide and increasing the capacity of all people to understand the warning signs, the words to use to help and the resources that are available. Mental Health Services Act/ Prevention and Early Intervention (MHSA/PEI) funding supports school-based mental health programing, outreach and engagement services, family-strengthening services, school-readiness programs and community mental health educational events to reduce stigma. A continuum of telephone-based support, including a referral line, a Warm Line with extended hours and a Suicide Prevention Hotline are part of these efforts.

Numerous resources related to suicide prevention are provided through CalMHSA in Orange County, including the Directing Change Program that uses a film contest as a strategy to prevent suicide, reduce stigma and promote mental health. This program engages youth as change agents by providing them with information on mental health and suicide prevention and supporting them in applying that knowledge to create a 60-second public service announcement film for their peers.

FaCT focuses on child abuse prevention by building family resilience through 15 Family Resource Centers located in high need communities in Orange County.2 Managed by the County of Orange Social Services Agency, FaCT offers upstream activities such as outreach and education, prevention services and more intensive family services for those considered high risk or where maltreatment has already occurred. FaCT offers classes, counseling, domestic abuse services and emergency assistance, as well as access to CalWORKs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal.

Home visiting is a tested strategy that connects parents with a nurse or other trained professional who visits families in their homes and provides advice, skill building, information and referrals.

First 5 Orange County’s Bridges Network is embedded at high-birth hospitals, providing families with education, infant screening and screening for maternal depression and linkage to services. Families are referred to home visiting services which use evidence-based models such as Nurse Family Partnership, Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale (KIPS), COPE (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment) and Triple P (Positive Parenting Program).3

The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Home Visiting Initiative supports positive development by providing resources for children (prenatal, infant and toddler care, infant and child nutrition, child developmental screening) and their parents (parent education, child development and child care, job readiness, domestic violence, sexual assault, mental health and substance abuse treatment). The County of Orange Social Services Agency is partnering with the Bridges Network to bring home visiting to CalWORKs families.4

Two of Orange County Health Care Agency’s home visiting programs, School Readiness and Connect the Tots, increase confidence in parenting skills, decrease parental stress and improve parental health and well-being – all of which lead to improved outcomes for young children. These programs provide screening, assessment and linkage to resources, focusing on Orange County families with children 0-8 years of age.

Positive academic outcomes cannot be reached without ensuring students also benefit from good mental health and positive social and emotional development.

The Early Childhood Mental Health and Wellness Program is designed to identify mental health issues and negative behaviors in children early in their development and support Early Childcare and Education (ECE) providers in dealing with these challenges.5 Mental Health Consultants provide coaching and technical assistance with ECE providers to increase early identification, provide connection to early intervention and clinical care and reach families to educate, reduce stigma and connect them to services.

The Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) focuses on improving mental, social and emotional health to improve academic connection and outcomes for students in Orange County schools. They build teacher skills around developing mindfulness in students, improving school and classroom climate and restorative disciplinary practices.

As part of the OCDE’s Violence Prevention Educational Services, the Digital Citizenship program provides trainings for parents on social media trends, information literacy, privacy and security, cyberbullying and parent/child communication. The Common Sense Media curriculum empowers students to think critically and behave safely and responsibly as they access the internet and communicate with digital devices.

Another component of OCDE’s Violence Prevention Education Services is the Crisis Response Network, which comprises trained responders who are available to respond to a crisis that occurs in a school or in the community. This program mitigates the impact that self-harm and violence has on individuals and the community and assists those who have experienced trauma due to local tragedies. Crisis response staff also educate school staff, students and parents on the various aspects of bullying/cyber bullying, its relationship to suicide and ways to prevent it.

Health care providers are a critical part of a robust community prevention and intervention system. Providers have regular interactions with children and families that can serve as opportunities for screening and intervention for multiple issues that effect wellbeing and mental health.

The CHOC Psychiatric Consultation Line (CPCL) is designed to assist pediatricians who care for children and adolescents with behavioral or psychiatric issues in primary care settings. Pediatricians are well-positioned to first see, assess, diagnose and treat mental illness in children and youth in order to avoid long term health consequences, but they need the resources and support from mental health clinicians to do so. Currently, the wait to see a specialist can be up to four months long. The CHOC Psychiatric Consultation Line, which is currently in a pilot phase, provides immediate access for the physician to consult a clinical social worker and same-day access to a child and adolescent psychiatrist so the child can get assessed, diagnosed and treated more quickly.