TEAM: CHANGING MINDS

in Ventura County

We have never been prouder to be a part of the talented team at BBSVC & this supportive community. From the impact of COVID-19 isolation to cyberbullying to the unique challenges of 21st century environments, protecting and improving youth mental health is more crucial than ever.

WHAT IS TEAM: CHANGING MINDS?

BBSVC supports youth in Ventura County who may face adversity, current crisis, and histories of trauma through a lens of youth mentorship. In creating innovative engagement strategies through “Team: Changing Minds VC,” BBSVC will see transformative improvement of youth mental health in our modern - and digital - environments. This is a programmatic component of the agency’s Youth Mental Health First Aid Initiative. In its pilot year (2023), this program will establish best practices for serving marginalized and at-risk youth with improved, modern, critical mental health support strategies.

  • Every youth in the BBSVC program will benefit from the agency’s improved best practices in support of youth mental health.

    Although the initiative will engage with all BBSVC youth in need of support, focus in 2023 will be on delivering service for male-identifying, BIPOC youth: this demographic has been identified within the Youth Mental Health First Aid initiative as experiencing a heightened risk of delay in receiving mental health support.

  • 1. Offering Youth Mental Health First Aid training directly to the important adults within each young person’s circles – case managers, mentors, parents/guardians, etc. This strategy will reduce care access barriers for youth: improving mental health understanding, reducing mental health stigma, shortening healthy reaction time during crisis, improve direct connections for youth to mental health professionals, and result in overall improved mental health for participating youth.

    2. Providing an innovative approach to engaging with youth for regular, ongoing case management and volunteer mentor interaction: Utilizing advanced social media safety training for staff and volunteers, youth cohorts (pilot) will be engaged through digital/gaming platforms to build communication between youth and their important adults in online environments. This engagement will role model safe and appropriate online interaction, and will also recognize these online spaces as environments where youth already gather and feel comfortable communicating. This strategy will also give BBSVC professional staff more immediate access to interrupt unhealthy behaviors that are identified through increased social media risks, reducing negative impact on mental health that can occur through social media platforms.

  • "Team: Changing Minds VC” will provide an innovative and replicable strategy on how to approach youth mental health case management in evolving environments: while education agencies, CBOs, and family systems cannot prevent the overall impact of social media in our modern societies, the initiative will demonstrate how social media can be utilized as a tool to engage with youth in need of mental health support.

COVID-19 & COMMUNITY HEALTH

BBSVC continues to be conscientious about physical health concerns in the community, with COVID-19 being the prime example, and how these issues impact our youth, families, mentors, staff, and supporters. First and foremost, BBSVC will always uphold an environment of respect for all individual health concerns so that all friends and participants can be assured that their personal boundaries are respected.

As we have seen with COVID-19 shutdowns, health conditions and restrictions may change at any time. At all times, we ask that everyone please respect any federal, state, county, local, or district restrictions that are in place, and contact your Match Support Specialist (case manager) for guidance. Matches need to discuss with their Match Support Specialist and each other – parents/guardians, youth, and mentors – to determine when they are comfortable to meet in-person. All parties must be comfortable, informed, and in agreement.

In-person engagement is allowed on a case-by-case basis – we take this into consideration as we evaluate the importance of emotional health as well as physical health: the presence of and access to a mentor during stressful and frightening situations can provide invaluable mental health benefits that contribute to youth safety.

BBSVC does encourage everyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine as they become eligible to receive it, but this is not a requirement of program participation.