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