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Latino Team
MVBCN's Latino Team has been meeting since 1998. It consists of staff within our network providing services to Latinos, and other professionals and para-professionals in our communities who also serve this population. The goals of the Team are to:
--Support MVBCN provider agencies' abilities to recruit, train, and retain staff with the skills necessary to provide services to the Latino community
--Identify Latino community needs for outreach and improvements in mental health and chemical dependency services
--Provide a vehicle for networking and mutual support among those serving the Latino community
The Latino Team meets bi-monthly for networking, training, and strategizing. Their accomplishments have included:
--Sponsoring focus groups to explore the mental health needs of Latino seniors.
--Administering a grant to provide scholarships and mentoring to bi-lingual/bi-cultural students seeking certification as alcohol and drug counselors
--Partnering with the Area Health Education Center for a Career Pathways project to recruit individuals for behavioral health careers, provide career counseling, link them with partner colleges, and provide internships.
--Assisting MVBCN agencies to recruit bi-lingual/bi-cultural staff and to obtain waivers for those whose qualification is based on different education and experience than that outlined in state administrative rules.
--Providing training and support to para-professionals within our Latino communities to teach classes for families about mental illness, in collaboration with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
--Supporting a translation team to make Spanish versions of commonly used materials available to MVBCN agencies
--Advising the MVBCN on issues relating to cultural and linguistic competency. Current Quality Improvement Plan initiatives include:
1. Monitoring the growing number of Hispanic and/or Spanish-speaking individuals enrolled as MVBCN members, and the percentage receiving mental health services Hispanic Demographics and Utilization
2. Tracking the number of clinical staff who are bi-lingual in Spanish
3. Auditing the ability of agencies to respond to Spanish callers
--Offering extensive continuing education material within team meetings, including on early psychosis, co-occurring mental illness and addiction disorders, and trauma. These trainings ensure that MVBCN agency staff and Team members working in other community settings have access to current information, with an opportunity to explore issues specific to these disorders within the Latino community.
--Sharing information on the needs of and resources available to the large number of Latinos who are not insured and not eligible for most publicly-funded behavioral health services.
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