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ORGANIZATION: GIFFORD YOUTH ACTIVITY CENTERIMENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION PROGRAM: MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN & FAMILIES _ FUNDER: CHILDREN'S SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE i C, PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (Entire Section C, I — 6, not to exceed two pages) 1 . List Priority Needs area addressed. Focus Area I — Mental Wellness Issues for Children Pre-school to age 18 . This program improves the capacity of children in Indian River County to succeed to adulthood in a safe, healthy, and productive manner by meeting the following objectives : Promotes enhanced emotional and social skills; Provides early intervention screening for children; Promotes life skills training and effective use of emotional and social skills; Promotes independent living skills; Promotes accessible locations for healthy, productive activities. Focus Area II — Families Support & Education. This program supports parents/guardians, a child' s most important resource, to be and do what is needed to shepherd children to adulthood in a safe, healthy, and productive manner by meeting several stated objectives. Increases the availability of affordable quality after school summer children' s educational programs; increases access to cultural and ethnic activities; increases tutorial and mentoring programs. 2, Briefly describe program activities including location of services. The Mental Health Program will be serving preschoolers, elementary school age children, teens, and parents. All activities will occur at GYAC . Mental health services shall focus on the following for children: building self-esteem, improving attitudes and behaviors, caring for others, identification of feelings, anger management and strategies for non-aggressive behaviors. The parental component shall focus on: parenting strategies, crisis intervention for family issues, behavior management issues and educating parents on the developmental needs of children. Family mental health services will be targeted to indigent families who have no insurance coverage nor means to pay for services. Activities will include both group and individual counseling. Age appropriate materials will be used with the children and include activities which engage children. Activities such as games, drawing, self-expressions, skits, puppets, etc. will be incorporated. Mediation will be used to assist youth with conflict resolution. Parents will receive individual family assessment of mental health needs, individual consultations, information, referrals and counseling . Where appropriate, behavioral observations, behavior plans and follow-up will be provided to address specific problems the child may be experiencing in the family, in, social settings, at school , etc. 3. Briefly describe how your program addresses the stated need/problem. Describe how your program follows a recognized "best practice" (see definition on page 12 of the Instructions) and provide evidence that indicates proposed strategies are effective with target population, Since 1990 the Search Institute in Minneapolis, MN has researched and promoted their program of "Healthy Communities" (www. search-institute.orel. Their approach is based on the 40 Developmental Assets which are the building blocks of healthy development that help young people grow up healthy, caring, and responsible. Their internal assets for development include developing positive values, social competencies, and a positive self identity. Concepts proposed in this mental health program are similar to those proposed by Dr. Peter Benson, Ph.D. in his 40 Developmental Assets. 6