What is the goal of CAN CARES?
The goal of CAN CARES is to improve the mental health and well-being of students participating in CAN programming by providing behavioral health support to our community center directors, increasing awareness around mental health, and providing referrals to outside organizations when necessary. Ultimately we hope to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and increase the self-sufficiency of the people we work with to advocate for mental health care for themselves.
Why was CAN CARES created?
We created CAN CARES because mental health was identified as a need by our communities through a health disparities survey conducted in 2020.
Who will benefit from CAN CARES?
The long-term goal is that anyone who interacts with CAN programming with benefit from CAN CARES, across the lifespan. Right now our emphasis is on our k-12 students. We're working to build strong relationships with our students so we can provide them with tools to become self-sufficient adults. We know from working with students and families who are underresourced that mental health and behavioral health is often something that becomes deprioritized for a variety of reasons. But we also know that mental health can be a barrier to things like a stable job, stable housing, and access to education. We want to help remove these barriers.
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