Community Mentoring: Adapting Youth Mental Health Screening Across County Lines

Adapting youth mental health screening across Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties

Full Project Name:Community Mentoring: Adapting Youth Mental Health Screening Across County LinesPrimary Community Organization:Fond du Lac Area YScreen Program (Mentor), Beaver Dam Unified School District (Mentee)Award Amount:$50,000

Award Date

July2017

Project Duration:12 months

Project Description Narrative:

Both nationally and in Wisconsin, suicide is the second leading cause of death for individuals ages 15-24. Youth Risk Behavior Survey results in Beaver Dam show that mental wellness of students continues to be a concern and that there is a lack of awareness of available resources and a coordinated process to help students access resources. Building on long-standing successful screening and referral in Fond du Lac County and the recognition that health issues do not stop at the county border, partners determined that a coordinated, cross-county approach is necessary to create community-level change. This mentoring project aimed to adapt Fond du Lac's process for developing and implementing the YScreen Program to build capacity to implement universal screening practices in Dodge County, expand referral networks, and evaluate cross-county outcomes to improve the overall emotional health of youth across Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties.

Project partners: Mentor partners: Agnesian HealthCare, Fond du Lac Area YScreen Program, Fond du Lac County Health Department, Fond du Lac School District

Mentee partners: Agnesian HealthCare, Beaver Dam Community Hospital, Beaver Dam Unified School District, Church Health Services, Community Pediatrics, Dodge County Human Services, Dodge County Public Health

Outcomes & Lessons Learned:

Developed an action plan to launch youth mental health screening with all incoming 9th graders at Beaver Dam High School beginning fall 2018, including an agreed commitment from the school system, local health care, and local community services to support screening and referral to care
Identified shared data indicators and a timeline for review of shared data across the two counties
Developed a resource guide across both Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties to support a robust referral network and increased awareness of and access to existing services