Current YOR 4 grantee

YOR IV Project Name: Youth Advocacy and Treatment Program (YAT)

Project Description: With the support of YOR IV, The CLARE|MATRIX (C|M) Youth Advocacy and Treatment Program (YAT) will serve 80 youth aged 16-25 within 28-months. The YAT program will expand upon current C|M youth prevention programs such as Clarity for Youth within the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The program objectives for YAT participants age 16-17 will include SUD education; family therapy and education; individual and group SUD therapy; MAT education and referral services; linkages to external community resources/services; 12-step introduction for teens; peer support; sober fun activities; and the opportunity to be a part of a youth advocacy and advisory group. YAT will strengthen its withdrawal management, gender-specific residential treatment, and outpatient treatment services, including medication assisted treatment during this project. Additionally, C|M will build additional community partnerships to expand services to more youth across Los Angeles County communities, with a special focus placed on reaching youth in SPA 5 and 6.

Partners: Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, Santa Monica College

YOR III Project Name: Youth Advocacy and Treatment Program (YAT)

Project Description:  The CLARE|MATRIX (C|M) Youth Advocacy and Treatment Program (YAT) will serve 35 youth aged 12-24 within 14-months. The YAT program will expand upon current C|M youth prevention programs such as Clarity for Youth within the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The program objectives for YAT participants age 12-17 will include SUD education; family therapy and education; individual and group SUD therapy; MAT education and referral services; linkages to external community resources/services; 12-step introduction for teens; peer support; sober fun activities; and the opportunity to be a part of a youth advocacy and advisory panel. Program objectives from YAT participants aged 18-24 will include all those listed above, as well as withdrawal management, gender-specific residential treatment, and outpatient treatment services, including medication assisted treatment. Additionally, C|M will build additional community partnerships to expand services to more youth across Los Angeles County communities, with a special focus placed on reaching youth in SPA 5 and 6. 

Partner Agencies: Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Primary Contact:
Name: Jolan Millard
Position: Director of Prevention Services
Email: jdawson@clarematrix.org
Phone: 310-314-6200
Website: www.clarematrix.org

YOR IV Project Name: SJCH YOR 4

Project Description: Building on our YOR III capacity building grant, our existing infrastructure, and current behavioral health services , St. John’s Community Health (SJCH), will expand low-barrier treatment and engagement for young people aged 16-25 with OUD/StUD and/or who are at risk of misusing illicit substances and counterfeit pharmaceuticals often mixed with fentanyl. SJCH’s YOR 4 project’ will serve South LA and the City of Compton, severely under-resourced neighborhoods that face exceptional challenges including high rates of persistent poverty, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), substance misuse, overdose, severe housing burden and homelessness, crime, and justice system involvement. There is a dearth of low-barrier services that meet the needs of affected youth and their families. Our project will ensure that these youth and their families have access to the full continuum of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services to be provided by our team of providers, clinicians, YOR Community Health Workers, and a Youth Peer Recovery Specialist. Our evidence-based, trauma-informed, strengths-based services include: SBIRT/early intervention; O/StUD prevention/education for youth/families; harm reduction services; comprehensive assessments; screening for social determinants of health; benefits screening/enrollment; care coordination, individual service planning, and system navigation linking patients/families to internal and external resources to assist with education, employment, medical/dental care (including HIV/hepatitis C prevention/treatment), reentry services, and higher levels of out-of-scope SUD care; treatment (individual/family psychotherapy, group intervention using Matrix Model, MOUD, and psychiatric assessment/treatment with SSRI); and ongoing peer recovery counseling/mentoring. Our Youth Advisory Committee (established in YOR III ) will provide ongoing opportunities for youth involvement. The lasting impact SJCH hopes to achieve with the project is an increase of young people and families having access to services; reduction in behavioral health disparities in South LA and Compton; increase of knowledge in the target communities about opioids, stimulants, and fentanyl risk; and mitigation of stigma among residents regarding drug use and seeking treatment.

Partner Agencies: Behavioral Health Services, Inc., Tarzana Treatment Center, BAART

YOR III Project Name: St. John’s Community Health YOR III

Project Description: Our project will help address the needs of youth (ages 12-24) in the City of Compton who use substances.  The project seeks to lower the incidence of overdose and help mitigate the impact of opioid and stimulant misuse through education, advocacy, and sustainable culture change that reduce stigma around drug use; increase awareness of overdose response strategies and availability of naloxone; and improve the partners’ collective capacity to competently address the needs of youth who abuse substances.

St. John’s Community Health (SJCH) provides medical, dental, behavioral health, and support services through 20 health clinics in Los Angeles areas to low income, uninsured, underinsured, and insured community members of all ages. Our mission is to improve community health and reduce health disparities by delivering high quality, comprehensive services and impacting health and social policy. Our partnerships with agencies in Los Angeles complement and deepen the impact of our work on residents and our advocacy for systemic improvement and positive health outcomes.

Partner Agencies (Subcontractors): Compton Unified School District (CUSD), Compton Community College District (CCCD)

Primary Contact:
Name: Deborah C. Bradley, LMFT, Ph.D.
Position: Director, Integrated Behavioral Health Services
Email: dbradley@sjch.org
Email: 323-541-1600 ext. 4077
Website: www.sjch.org

YOR IV Project Name: Harbor CHC ARISE

Project Description: At Harbor Community Health Centers, our Addiction Recovery Integrates Services for Empowerment (ARISE) program is founded on the belief that Addiction Care Starts with Primary Care! We treat substance use as a chronic health condition, integrating medical, behavioral, & social services within our primary care setting. Our multidisciplinary team includes primary care providers, pediatricians, OB/GYN, behavioral health providers, care coordinators, & peer recovery staff. We offer compassionate, evidence-based treatment tailored to each patient’s recovery journey. We provide Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) using FDA-approved medications such as buprenorphine, naltrexone, & naloxone, combined with counseling & case management. We also offer the Long-Acting Injectable forms of naltrexone & buprenorphine. Through this comprehensive approach, HarborCHC’s SUD Program reduces stigma, improves access, & empowers individuals to achieve & sustain recovery, meeting patients where they are & supporting them every step of the way.

Partner Agencies: Twin Town Treatment Centers, Dignity Health dba St. Mary Medical Center, House of Hope Foundation, Inc., SHAWL Women’s House, Providence Little Company of Mary, Fred Brown Recovery Services, Inc., Boys & Girls Club of Los Angeles Harbor, The Beacon House Association of San Pedro, Bienstar, Roots Through Recovery, College Medical Centers

YOR III Project Name: Adolescent and Early Adult Addiction/Recovery Program

Project Description: Harbor Community Health Centers (HCHC) will expand its existing Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services to include an Adolescent and Early Adult Addiction/Recovery program. This program will strengthen HCHC’s capacity and increase access to treatment for a broad spectrum of substance use disorders, including opioid use disorders and stimulant use disorders, especially among Latinx youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County.

Project activities focus on comprehensive, age-appropriate interventions, including screening and referral to treatment with general and specialty care providers. Additional activities include case management and outreach, peer support, prevention, and supportive services. Our goal is to better address the specific needs of youth and young adults and diversify the range of health care settings that can serve as an access point for youth to receive evidence-based treatment.

Primary Contact:
Name: Warren Yamashita, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FASAM
Position: Director of Addiction Medicine
Email: wyamashita@pickharbor.org
Phone: 310-547-0202 ext. 315
Website: www.harborchc.org/services/substance-use-disorder

YOR IV Project Name: Anadutana

Project Description: Building on the experience and success of YOR III, Toiyabe Indian Health Project, Inc. (TIHP), a tribal, nonprofit organization that serves the medical, dental, optical, behavioral health (substance abuse prevention/treatment, mental health), pharmacy, and dialysis care needs of American Indians and the greater community at large, will continue to serve an isolated population within a 200-mile radius of the frontier designated Inyo and Mono County region of California.

Continuing the Anadutana project, qualified content experts will complete the activities and provide leadership in facilitating culturally competent services to youth within the TIHP service area. In addition, youth prevention and outreach staff will deliver culturally appropriate life saving overdose prevention efforts. The team will develop scheduled educational events and provide educational materials. More importantly, the funding will allow TIHP to provide outreach/life saving overdose prevention access for individuals in rural, underserved areas. As part of our mission to deliver youth-directed community access to OUD education and TIHP resources, we will continue to integrate indigenous language and culturally appropriate resources through our innovative mass communication efforts. To improve services at TIHP’s MAT program, YOR funding will increase access to inpatient treatment, provide recovery support through contingency management, develop family recovery group activities, and support community prevention efforts.

Partner Agencies: CA Rural Indian Health Board, Inc., Owens Valley Career Development Center, Bishop Paiute Tribal Youth Health to Wellness Court, Desert Sage Youth Wellness Center

YOR III Project Name:

Project Description:  YOR III will provide improved and effective linkages to MAT programing offered at Toiyabe Indian Health Project. These improved linkages to service will help alleviate the suffering and support recovery for youth that are currently falling through the cracks and open up doors to services needed. By providing new linkages to care through new partnerships Toiyabe Indian Health Project will be able to increase outreach and improve prevention services to youth and provide a pathway to access care. 

Partner Agencies: Bishop Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court, Owens Valley Career Development Center, California Rural Indian Health Board, Desert Sage Youth Wellness Center, Native American Smartcare, Inyo Co. Behavioral Health Department, Inyo Co. Probation Department

YOR II Project Name: Anadutana

Project Description: The proposed “Anadutana” project was administered by the Family Services Department of the Toiyabe Indian Health Project, Inc. (Toiyabe) and community partners through a large collaborative of Native American, non-native and child-serving partners. Anadutana is a Paiute word meaning “lacing a baby in the cradle board.” A cradle board has been used historically by American Indians to provide security to our young. The Anadutana project is Toiyabe’s effort to provide security and support for our future generations. The purpose of the project is to encourage wellness amongst youth by providing a network of intervention and treatment options for opioid and stimulant use disorders.

Partner Agencies: Toiyabe Indian Health Board of Directors, Owens Valley Career Development Center, California Rural Indian Health Board, Desert Sage Youth Wellness Center, Telewell Behavioral Health, Toiyabe’s Chief Executive Officer

Primary Contact:
Name: Michelle Saenz
Position: Family Services Director
Email: michelle.saenz@toiyabe.us
Email:  earl.lent@toiyabe.com or michelle.saenz@toiyabe.us
Phone: 760-873-6394

Website: www.toiyabe.us  

YOR IV Project Name: LA CADA YOR 4 Project

Project Description: Building on the experience and successes of YOR I Project, the LA CADA Youth Opioid Response (YOR) Program will enhance and expand low-barrier treatment access for high-risk transition-age youth (TAY) ages 15-25 in southeast Los Angeles County. The program aims to enroll at least 125 participants in a minimum three-month intensive outpatient program designed to prevent and treat opioid misuse, overdose, and substance use disorders (OUS,StUD, and SUD). Through extended evening and weekend hours, culturally responsive care, and youth-led outreach, the program offers medication-assisted treatment (MAT), counseling, peer and recovery support, and harm-reduction education. YOR staff also partner with schools, probation, juvenile justice, and community systems to provide early intervention, distribute Narcan and fentanyl/zylazine test strips, and connect TAY to ongoing care. An advisory board of youth with lived experience guides program design and ensures equitable, developmentally appropriate services.

Partner Agencies: LA CADA CENS Facility at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, Bellflower Middle and High School, Lynwood Unified School District, El Rancho Unified School District – Pico Rivera

YOR I Project Name: YOR LA CADA

Project Description: The YOR LA CADA project provided services to youth ages 12-24 who are at risk of developing an OUD, have an OUD, or are at risk of an opioid overdose.  YOR LA CADA worked primarily with the middle and high schools and the colleges in and around the Santa Fe Springs area to provide education and medications for addiction treatment (MAT) of OUDs to parents, teachers, students, and administrators. Information delivered focused on the dangers of opioid use, the options available for treatment, and the information necessary for individuals looking for help. In addition, we will outreach to our community partners in the effort to leverage existing professional relationships and community contacts. To ensure that a substantial swath of the populations served by LA CADA are informed of the availability of medications to treat OUDs.  Our goal is to be the first resource individuals in Service Planning Area (SPA) 7 think of and seek out when they need MAT services.

Primary Contacts:
Name: Jazmin Davalos
Position: Project Director
Email: jdavalos@lacada.com
Phone: 562-777-7500

Website: www.lacada.com

YOR IV Project Name: YOR 4 Service Expansion

Project Description: La Maestra’s Wellness Clinic offers outpatient mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services, including treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and Stimulant Use Disorder (StUD), to promote overall patient well-being. La Maestra has received State Opioid Response (SOR) funding since 2019 and continues to expand access to OUD and StUD services for transitional-aged youth (TAY), ages 16 to 25, in San Diego County. The organization conducts regular screenings for all primary care patients during annual visits to identify youth who have, or are at risk of developing, OUD or StUD. The Wellness Clinic receives internal referrals from other La Maestra departments—including medical, dental, and support services— and external referrals from partner programs that specialize in hard-to-reach groups, such as homeless and justice-involved youth.

Community outreach efforts will be expanded through mobile teams distributing naloxone, fentanyl test strips, andharm reduction education at community centers, youth-serving organizations, and other locations where high-riskyouth gather. Two Peer Support Specialists with lived experience will be hired to provide mentorship, outreach, andharm reduction education, and at least 20 youth and young adults will be recruited as volunteers to assist withpeer engagement and overdose prevention efforts.

By integrating PNPs, peer support, SBIRT screenings, harm reduction outreach, and strong referral partnerships ,La Maestra ensures that youth and young adults have multiple entry points to comprehensive, culturally responsive SUD care while establishing long-term sustainability strategies for continued service delivery.

Partner Agencies: Mc Alister Institute, Mental Health Systems, HealthRight 360, Lindsay School

YOR II Project Name: Enhancing the Quality of Opioid/Stimulant Use Disorder (OUD/StUD) Services Among Vulnerable San Diego Youth

Project Description: La Maestra’s Comprehensive Community Behavioral Health and Wellness Clinic continued to build on YOR I services and enhance OUD/StUD services for youth and young adults between the ages of 12 to 24 in San Diego County. Our goal is to help reduce overdose-related deaths and improve the health and well-being of youth in our community. In all La Maestra services, there is a particular focus on low-income, uninsured, and underinsured youth and racial and ethnic minority youth. La Maestra is using a whole person and patient-centered approach to provide evidence-based Medication-Assisted Treatment, co-occurring disorder treatment, mindfulness interventions, drug education, and prevention and recovery services, while following everyone’s developmental stage.

YOR I Project Name: Expanding Access to Youth Substance Use Disorder Services

Project Description: La Maestra’s YOR project increased access to evidence-based, youth-specific SUD, and OUD treatment services, including MAT, counseling, and recovery support services. La Maestra engaged youth ages 12 to 24 with a specific focus on preventing opioid overdose deaths. La Maestra implemented screening of all patients ages 12 to 24 for SUDs, referring, assessing and providing onsite counseling, and recovery support services, and distributing Naloxone to youth and families. La Maestra increased the availability of youth-customized technological diagnosis and treatment tools through virtual reality (VR). La Maestra uses VR equipment to provide youth patients with VR therapy to enhance the treatment of SUD, OUD, and co-occurring mental health conditions.

Primary Contact:
Name: Corrine Hanson
Position: Chief Development Officer
Email: chanson@lamaestra.org
Phone: 619-269-1267

Website: www.lamaestra.org