Learn About our Past Whole Child Health & Wellness Community of Practice
2021-2024
Whole Child Health & Wellness: A Collaborative Effort
The California AfterSchool Network (CAN) proudly partnered with two California counties, Orange and Tulare counties, to advance Whole Child Health and Wellness efforts. Supported by the California Youth Opioid Response (YOR CA) Grant, this multi-year project focused on reflecting on local practices, sharing promising strategies, and identifying both local and policy barriers to strengthen intervention and treatment pathways for children, youth, and families.
Project Outcomes
- Advanced Equity Strategies: Developed shared, equity-driven approaches to support youth impacted by opioid and methamphetamine use.
- Informed Policy Change: Collaborated with statewide and local partners to identify areas for policy improvement (e.g., Medi-Cal reimbursement).
- Created Tools for the Field: Developed and published a Whole Child Health & Wellness Handbook and hosted a statewide virtual convening to share processes, lessons learned, and practical resources.
About YOR CA
The California Youth Opioid Response (YOR CA) initiative strengthened community capacity to prevent and reduce opioid and stimulant misuse, use disorders, and overdose deaths among youth (ages 12–24). YOR CA emphasized evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery services while addressing the barriers and silos that often limited access to comprehensive youth support.
Community of Practice
Each Community of Practice (CoP) co-created whole child health navigation strategies that were equity-centered, collaborative, and sustainable. Partners worked together to:
- Apply human-centered, equity-driven practices
- Build a shared, multi-sector vision
- Conduct Equity Pauses to gather community insights
- Develop collaborative structures that leverage diverse resources
- Identify and address policy barriers
- Document and share lessons learned
Community Partners:
Culminating Event
Access resources from our culminating event, The Power of Expanded Learning to Support Substance Use Interventions, Health, Mental Health, and Thriving Families Workshop on September 25, 2024: https://www.afterschoolnetwork.org/power-expanded-learning-support-substance-use-interventions-health-mental-health-and-thriving.