Santa Cruz County Healthy Returns Initiative (HRI)
Funded in 2005, HRI is a grant through the California Endowment and creates a partnership between Probation, Children's Mental Health, the Health Services Agency, the La Manzana Community Resource Center, and several other community based agencies. The goals of the program are to increase the physical and mental health of youth transitioning from Juvenile Hall or other out of home placement, back into the community. The funds provide for a Probation Officer, a Detention Nurse (who is community based), and a Certified Application Assistant to help families navigate the complicated mental health service benefits offered through the county and state.
HRI grant goal objectives include the following:
To implement the MAYSI2 for all youth detained at the Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall
A pre-adjudication planning protocol for referring at least 8 youth annually for Wraparoung services
An age and culturally appropriate continuity of care health treatment model
To provide health insurance enrollment assistance to 70% of all detained and adjucated youth and their parents/guardians
To strengthen service linkages and collaborations around health and mental health services with community based providers
To utilize data management systems for case planning, collaboration, program development, and informing public policy
To participate in initiative-wide training and technical support activities
To identify public policy that facilitate or act as barriers to improving access to health, mental health, and substance abuse services, and inform public policy development to acheive HRI goals.
For more information about HRI