WCHW Community of Practice

The California AfterSchool Network is excited to partner with two counties in California to collaborate and deepen our work with Whole Child Health and Wellness. With funding from the California Youth Opioid Response (YOR CA) Grant, CAN and our Whole Child Health & Wellness Community of Practice will reflect on local practices and share promising strategies. The challenges and barriers, both local and policy, that arise will be identified and documented to create cross-sector navigation pathways of intervention and treatment, to support children, youth and families. This will be documented in a resource to be shared widely, including through a statewide virtual convening in August 2022.

What is YOR CA?

California Youth Opioid Response (YOR CA) is working with local communities, service providers, and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce opioid and stimulant misuse, use disorders, and overdose deaths among youth (ages 12-24). 

• YOR CA aims to strengthen capacity and increase access to medications for the treatment of OUDs and to reduce opioid overdose-related death among youth through evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
• While also, recognizing that barriers and silos often prevent the comprehensive interventions youth require and the range of settings that can, and should, serve as access points for youth.

Multi-Year Project’s Outcomes and Focuses:

• Create shared equity strategies and surface policy challenges for providing a variety of supports for youth using Opioids and/or Methamphetamines.
• The statewide NIC and local community collaboratives tailor and specify Whole Child Health & Wellness (WCHW) shared equity strategies for inclusion in local implementation plans. Statewide NIC members identify areas for policy change or support (e.g., Medi-Cal reimbursement).
• Develop and finalize a Whole Child Health & Wellness (WCHW) Handbook
• Develop, publicize, and conduct a statewide virtual convening outlining the WCHW process, lessons learned, and use of the WCHW handbook.

Check out the Whole Child Health & Wellness Resources on this page listed under, Coalition Building, Community Schools & School-Based Services, Prevention Resources, and Claim Resources.