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Tribal Projects to Increase Native American Youth Mental Health Support
The Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing is dedicated to supporting the expansion and improvement of mental health and wellbeing for Native American youth. In collaboration with Native and Tribal programs as well as other local, statewide and federal agencies, we provide specialized training, consultation, and clinical services that reach across California and nationally. We are grateful to California Area Indian Health Service (IHS) for their support in helping make many of these partnerships possible. Our programs include:
Native American Youth Mental Health ECHO
- General Clinicians / Primary Care Track
- School Mental Health Track
Partnership with Two Feathers Native American Family Services
- California Native Youth Suicide Prevention Consultation
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinical Consultation
- Annual Native Youth Mental Wellness Conference
Collaboration with United Indian Health Services
- Integrated Telebehavioral Health Psychiatric Clinical Service with Primary Care Consultation
Native American Youth Mental Health ECHO
About the NAYMH ECHO
Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is an evidence-based, interactive model that uses technology to facilitate mentoring and knowledge sharing, enabling providers to deliver best practice care in their communities.
Building on this model, the Native American Youth Mental Health (NAYMH) ECHO is a collaborative speaker series designed to better support the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous youth, their families and their care teams. This ECHO strengthens community-defined mental health care for Native youth through knowledge sharing and mentorship.
Who is this ECHO designed for?
Health professionals, behavioral health specialists, school mental health workers, and community organization staff who support the care and wellbeing of Indigenous youth are invited to explore the asynchronous, accredited ECHO didactic sessions and access past session recordings and resources through the Learning Hub.
NAYMH ECHO Collaborators
This project incorporates voices from community leaders and professionals from across the state of California. It is a partnership between the Southern Indian Health Council, Two Feathers Native American Family Services, Yurok Tribe Health and Human Services, Cal Poly Humboldt and the Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Program Impact
Through a collaborative and innovative model, the NAYMH ECHO focuses on key areas that support Native youth and families, such as increasing access to care and encouraging training and capacity building for those serving Native youth in community, clinical and school settings.
Partnership with Two Feathers Native American Family Services
California Native Youth Suicide Prevention Consultation
With funding from California Area IHS, we partner with Two Feathers on statewide education and support for tribal suicide prevention. These efforts have included trainings with local partners, site visits to community programs, and consultation on the development of culturally appropriate suicide prevention and postvention strategies.
Technical Assistance for “Chekws: Hope For Tomorrow” project
As part of a Garrett Lee Smith Grant supporting youth suicide prevention, we provide technical assistance for Two Feathers’ project “Chekws: Hope For Tomorrow” featuring a variety of trainings, behavioral health screenings, and school-based treatment services. In support of their clinicians serving the behavioral health needs of local youth and families in schools, we provide weekly clinical case consultation services for their complex cases and help liase any shared cases with local primary care clinics.
Annual Native Youth School and Community Wellness Conference
Led by Two Feathers, with technical and consultation support from our Center team, the annual Native American Youth Mental Health Conference brings together leaders, educators, mental health practitioners, researchers, Native American youth, and other stakeholders in fields related to Native American mental health to share up-to-date research and best practices on youth mental health & wellness.
Collaboration with United Indian Health Services
Through telehealth, we collaborate with behavioral health clinicians, primary care providers, indigenous youth and their families to address child/adolescent psychiatric concerns. Using cultural humility and collaborative treatment planning, we provide direct clinical services with UIHS behavioral health clinicians to Native youth and their families to address complex mental health problems. In addition, we provide primary care consultation in which we have regular check-in’s with UIHS behavioral health clinicians and primary care providers to provide evidence-based treatment using a measurement-based “treat-to-target” approach.