YMCA
An Interview with Lauren Capaci, Vice President of Social Responsibility
PERTH AMBOY – The Raritan Bay Area YMCA has recently initiated 3 programs to improve mental health services in the area. Heading these programs is Lauren Capaci, Vice President of Social Responsibility at the YMCA.
Raritan Bay Area YMCA President and CEO Steve Jobin stated the programs are a new direction of behavioral health and social/emotional learning. Jobin states the program stems from the Y’s Board of Directors to identify behavioral health issues and to provide resources to prevent local suicides. “The Y started to look into grants on how to build internal capacity with a team concept,” stated Jobin.
Capaci has 20 years of experience in mental health, children support care and family support. She was Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of the Mental Health Association in Morris County and the Executive Director of the Family Assistance Organization, a partner with the Children’s System of Care. “I love the Y. I fell in love with the culture. It’s inline with my personal values,” states Capaci.
The first program is the Families Fit Together initiative. It is grant funded through Middlesex County. The program helps families who have children dealing with problems which are identified by teachers (e.g. high absenteeism, problems in school, in-home conflict, etc.) and others. We get referrals from teachers and sometimes self-referrals. It is early intervention program with a secondary preventative model and looks at the family unit. Younger children are provided with care at the Y in a safe environment. This helps to reduce barriers for participation. “We work in a holistic manner, serving the family unit as a whole,” states Capaci. The age group for this program is 11 years -16 years. “The program begins with a meal with the entire family, then we break up into groups. The program finishes up by bringing the parents and children back together to practice the newly introduced skills they have learned during that class”, Capaci explained. We look at what it means to be an effective parent. We teach, show, and then practice new skills. The facilitators model the new behavior/skill each week. Parents get homework that they are expected to implement at home. For participants who successfully complete the entire 14 weeks of the program, the Y provides a free family membership for 1 year. The program uses the evidenced based Strengthening Families curriculum and has contracted with Ms. Zeneida Council, LCSW, to provide clinical support to the facilitators. In addition, participants who need additional supports are connected to other local resources.
The second program is an evidenced based training called Youth Mental Health First Aid. It works with the National Council on Behavioral Health. This program was initiated because of the high rate of student suicides. “It’s an 8-hour intensive training program on how to spot signs of mental health problems and developing behavioral health crises. You learn how to intervene and what questions to ask. It gives you the training necessary to be confident in knowing what to do and say in these situations. You learn what the warning signs of potential mental health issues are, while building overall capacity to address these issues in the community at large. We get calls from many segments of the community including the police and school personnel. These are the members of the population what have extensive interaction with our Youth and they want to get training to spot signs of troubled teens, Capaci explained.
The third initiative the Y is implementing is designed to address individual needs of children with mental health/behavioral health issues. “We are partnering with the State’s Children System of Care and have become approved providers of Intensive In-home Counseling (IIC) and Behavioral Assistant (BA) services. Families needing a high level of care can contact Perform Care, the State’s utilization management system and request assistance. Once evaluated and approved for these type of interventions, The Middlesex County Care Management agency can assign the YMCA to work with these families in these capacities. A licensed counselor helps the youth reach certain goals that have been agreed upon by their Family Team.
Capaci stresses that the Y is seeking to not only help with physical health but to incorporate good mental health as well. The typical age of onset for a psychiatric issue is 18 years-21years, however the ages between 14years-16years can be tumultuous as rapid change is taking place and is sometimes a traumatic period in the life of a youth. Capaci stated, “It’s important to break the stigma that persists around these issues which has been shown to be a barrier for seeking /accepting help. Recognizing that brain growth is as important as physical growth is a message they want to spread. Recent focus groups reveled that Teens are experiencing so much stress that they are turning to vaping as a way to deal with it. They need healthier options and outlets for discussion on how they are feeling says Capaci. The Y is hoping their new efforts around mental health services will create a healthier Perth Amboy in general. She says this is only the beginning of the Ys efforts and they are looking to expand service options.
In addition, there is a list of related resources on the Y’s website and they are currently in the process of creating a fully interactive Behavioral Health resource page that users can go to for assistance in finding help and as well as staying up to date on issues effecting them.
The YMCA’s mission is to focus on the areas of healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility. By bringing these additional services to the community the Y is continuing its long tradition of providing a healthy, culturally competent (information and services are available in Spanish) place for all to turn to.
