1. Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health
Project LAUNCH Update
Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health

2. What is Project LAUNCH?
Enhances the quality and availability of existing services for children birth through 8 with a focus on five LAUNCH prevention and promotion strategies.
- Quality: evidence based practices
- Availability: increased capacity/additional staff
Pilot in Chittenden County.
Target is ALL children but a priority focus on engaging New American families.
Goal - Vermont children live in safe, supportive environments and enter school ready to succeed.

3. Continued –
Funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Vermont Department of Health received a five-year Project LAUNCH grant in 2012.
Building Bright Futures State Council is the Implementing Partner to the Vermont Department of Health.
LAUNCH defines health broadly as physical, emotional, social, cognitive and behavioral well-being.

4. Project LAUNCH’s Five Prevention and Promotion Strategies
» Screening and assessment in a range of child-serving settings » Integration of behavioral health into primary care settings » Mental health consultation in early care and education » Enhanced home visiting through increased focus on social and emotional well-being » Family strengthening and parenting skills training

6. The Role of the BBF State Council
Serves as the State Council of Youth Child Wellness for the purposes of the LAUNCH grant.
Helps address service and systems barriers identified during the five year pilot.
Assists with sustainable funding strategies for expansion and sustainability (Early Childhood Action Plan Goal #4). A Healthy Futures funding group has been formed to look at sustainable funding.
Assures the LAUNCH strategies are incorporated in the Early Childhood Action Plan.

7. The Role of the BBF Regional Council
Serves as the Local Council for Youth Child Wellness for the LAUNCH grant.
Provides paid leadership in the position of a full time Regional Council Coordinator.
Expands the diversity of BBFCC Council membership, reframing “early childhood” as prenatal through third grade, infusing the five strategies in its work and strengthening leadership by families.
Ensures that the five LAUNCH strands are included in the Regional Strategic Plan.

8. LAUNCH Implementation Team
Funded and other partners of Vermont LAUNCH, Vermont Agency of Human Services staff, LAUNCH project staff, community partners and other key stakeholders.
Provides feedback, guidance on LAUNCH activities and identifies opportunities and barriers.
Meets monthly.
Two Subcommittees: Health Disparities and Evaluation.

9. What is the Relationship Between CIS and LAUNCH?
LAUNCH overlays the CIS service system by:
- Adding new service capacity.
Increase quality by adding:
evidence based approaches;
connecting further to medical homes;
increasing early screening and assessment;
a deliberate focus on behavioral health
Supporting and connecting New American and other families with children birth through 8 to CIS. 

10. LAUNCH uses the Children’s Integrated Services (serving the at-risk population) and BBF State and Regional Council (all kids) frameworks for implementation – creating a public/private universal approach to the well-being of children and families.

11. How Does This Work?
LAUNCH “Partner” within VDH serves as the grant administrator and contracts with BBF to implement the grant.
BBF is the point of contact, manages all day to day work of the grant via its LAUNCH Early Childhood “Expert.”
LAUNCH Implementation Team meets monthly to inform the grant directions and identifies systems issues to be addressed by the BBF State Council and Regional Council as necessary.
8 funded partners report to BBF.
Cross-site and local evaluation role to measure impact.

12. Community Health Center Burlington
Project LAUNCH Strategy: Integration of behavioral health into primary care Approach: Clinical care coordination and panel management Target Population: children 0-8 Workforce Enhancements: 0.5 FTE clinical social worker Tools and Measures: Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (MCHAT), Ages and Stages (ASQ), ASQ Social Emotional (SE)

13. HowardCenter
Project LAUNCH Strategy: Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Approach: Mental Health Consultation in Child Care Target Population: Preschool Workforce Enhancements: 2.0 mental health consultants in child care centers Tools and Measures: Multi Tiered System of Support (MTSS)

14. Lund Family Center Project LAUNCH Strategy: Home visiting
Approach: Parents as Teachers Home Visiting Model
Target Population: children 0-3; expand to 3-5
Workforce Enhancements: 1.0 FTE Family Educator
Tools and Measures: ASQ, ASQ SE

15. University Pediatrics
Project LAUNCH Strategy: Integration of behavioral health into primary care
Approach: Clinical care coordination and acute mental health services
Target Population: children 0-8 from Pediatric Immigrant Clinic
Workforce Enhancements: 0.5 FTE clinical social worker
Tools and Measures: ASQ, Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire

16. Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP)
Project LAUNCH Strategy: Developmental assessments in a wide range of child serving settings
Approach: Training and technical assistance for primary care and early child care providers
Target Population: provider workforce
Workforce Enhancements: 1.2 FTE researchers Tools and Measures: A variety of screening and assessment tools with a framework, process map definitions and policy statement

17. Vermont Family Network
Project LAUNCH Strategy: Family strengthening and parent skill training Approach: Family support and training; information resource and referral assistance Target Population: Immigrant and refugee families and those with disabilities Workforce Enhancements: 0.8 FTE family support worker Tools and Measures: None as of yet.

18. Vermont Federation For Children’s Mental Health
Project LAUNCH Strategy: Family strengthening and parent skill training
Approach: Family peer navigation, information resource and referral assistance; training; family empowerment
Target Population: Immigrant and refugee families and those with disabilities
Workforce Enhancements: 0.5 FTE family support worker
Tools and Measures: None as of yet.

19. Visiting Nurses Association
Project LAUNCH Strategy: Home visiting
Approach: Parents as Teachers Home Visiting Model
Target Population: children 0-3; expand to 3-5
Workforce Enhancements: 0.5 FTE Family Support Worker; 0.5 FTE Family Staff Worker
Tools and Measures: ASQ, ASQ SE

20. John Snow Institute (JSI) - Evaluator
Performance Reporting – support quarterly data reporting to SAMHSA through the Transformation Accountability or TRAC system.
Cross-Site Evaluation (CSE) - collect and report Vermont LAUNCH data to the Cross-Site Evaluation Team.
Vermont LAUNCH Local Evaluation – implement the local evaluation design with process and outcome components.

21. Local Evaluation Measures
Chittenden County Data
Social Network Analysis/Partner Mapping
Case Studies
Parent Survey
Health Disparities Measures

22. VISION: LAUNCH Expansion
Aligned with the CIS and BBF infrastructures, sustainability and expansion would not require new infrastructure design   - also additional connections and opportunities exist with medical home connection and infrastructure work via Race to the Top, State Innovation Model (SIM) grants, etc.