Boys & Girls Clubs of Washington State (BGCWA) has developed and completed two years of a three-year pilot program to provide behavioral health staff support and trauma-informed training within their Clubs in partnership with WA state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, PAXIS Institute and the Norcliffe Foundation.
In the first year, the pilot launched three strategies to support Clubs’ work in promoting youth mental health: Behavioral Support Specialist staff, PAX Tools trauma-informed care training, and social and emotional programming.
In the second year, the pilot deepened staff competencies in mental health promotion by offering additional training and development to Behavioral Support Specialists and youth-facing staff alike. Under the guidance of a trained researcher from PAXIS Institute, Club staff conducted a year-long evaluation of programming, with results showing significant growth in positive behaviors, especially among youth who need us most. BGCWA staff conducted an extensive communications and outreach work to promote the work of Washington Clubs and to socialize the idea of behavioral health promotion in an out-of-school space.
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