How does our current mental health system perpetuate harm? What changes would you like to see happen? How can we lift up the shared wisdom and healing power of community members? These are a few of the questions CARE Program Director Mark Fadool asked in a recent conversation with program leads Shayla Collins, Makinie Fortino, and Cindy Trevino. The group shared their personal experiences and observations in response to the questions about and also spoke on other topics such as how they sustain hope and joy while working in the mental health field.

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Mark Fadool recently joined the CARE for Kids & Families team as Program Operations Director. He will be leading the implementation phase of the project.

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As a person with firsthand experience interacting with Washington’s public behavioral health system, Ray Gregson has spent much of his time, effort, skills, and wisdom over the past several years working to improve the system for youth and families. CoLab’s Community Outreach Specialist, Dominique Smith, recently spoke with Ray. He generously shared his personal story with us and explained how anyone can get involved with mental and behavioral health advocacy in Washington state and create change, starting at the regional level.

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SPARK Peer Learning Center is a youth-centered and youth-led program that trains certified peer counselors (CPCs) across Washington State. The SPARK program is a testament to the importance of young people’s lived experience and how it can be harnessed to address growing mental health needs. 

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Dr. McKenna Parnes, a postdoctoral fellow with the UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is leading an effort with the CARE project to conduct a review of the research literature and present findings on “non-specialist” mental health service models for youth.

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Dr. Someireh Amirfaiz, director of the New Americans Alliance for Policy & Research, has been a leader in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years, advocating for refugees, immigrants, and families of color impacted by poverty and racial and social disparities. In an intimate conversation with CoLab’s Anna Duncan and Merih Mehari, Dr. Amirfaiz spoke about the importance of access to culturally relevant mental healthcare for refugees and immigrants and some of the the changes she is advocating for with her organization.

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Since joining CoLab in March of 2021, Anna has managed projects focused on strengthening the publicly funded behavioral health care system for children and youth. On the CARE project, Anna leads partner engagement and program implementation efforts. Anna recently shared her perspective on CARE and how the project connects to her personal values.

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CARE (Culturally Affirming & Responsive Mental Health) for Kids and Families, is a new, statewide initiative to promote culturally responsive behavioral healthcare. In alignment with our project values of transparency and collective engagement, we want to share the story of how this initiative began and what led us to this moment in the process.

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This week we're excited to introduce you to a group of people that are central to the CARE for Kids & Families project: our Codesign Team! This core group of individuals will soon begin meeting regularly to build and guide the design of the culturally responsive care curriculum and other initiative objectives.

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Dominique joined the CoLab team in May 2022 as a Continuing Education Specialist. Since then, she’s been one of the leading forces behind our CARE for Kids & Families community outreach efforts. Dominique recently shared a bit about her personal connection to the CARE project and why she’s motivated to help increase access to culturally responsive mental healthcare.

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