LATINO COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Who We Are
In 2015, the Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) in the School of Public Health at Georgia State set out to address the complex needs of Spanish-speaking families with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), in the state of Georgia.
In the first two years, the LCPR led by convening the Latino Community of Practice: Supporting Families with Children and Youth with Disabilities, and brought together over 150 Latino-serving diverse, multi-sector professionals, family advocates, and partners from metro Atlanta and beyond. We created a robust network (Community of Practice) that continues to work collaboratively in many meaningful and relevant initiatives.
Since 2018, we shifted our focus to work directly for and with Spanish-speaking families with children and youth with IDD and ASD.
We design and enhance innovative bilingual and culturally and linguistically competent programming that includes informal and formal advocacy, community-based outreach, psycho-educational sessions, social media marketing, professional and technical interpreting and translation, and a dedicated Spanish track in both our signature Autism Conference & Expo, and Positive Behavior Parent Academy.
In addition, the LCPR continues to invest in developing family- and community-based leaders through a participatory action research (PAR) model and engages families in co-creating and co-implementing the cadre of services, opportunities, and supports they need the most.
Our LCPR core services, opportunities, and supports for Spanish-Speaking families are the following:
- Adelante Autismo – a monthly psycho-educational meeting, in collaboration with SPECTRUM Autism Support Services (non-profit in Gwinnett County), that delivers culturally and linguistically responsive information on navigating on systems of care (educational and healthcare), and emotional support, in Spanish.
- Bilingual Community Education and Outreach – a collaboration with Latino Community Fund of Georgia and the General Consulate of Mexico in Atlanta, our LCPR Team utilizes the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Learn The Signs And Act Early (LTSAE) campaign to disseminate information, in Spanish about healthy child development. Our LCPR team also attends community and school-based educational and health fairs across the state of Georgia.
- Mental Health First Aid Training in Spanish and English – a culturally and linguistically responsive Spanish, and English, Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid Training from the internationally recognized Mental Health First Aid of USA curriculum. Our LCPR Team are nationally certified to facilitate in-person, and virtual, trainings for families, community-based, and professional participants that leads to a three-year Mental Health First Aid certification.
- Professional and Technical Interpretation and Translation – an initiative to provide language access through certified, and experienced, interpreters and translators working with and for Spanish-speaking individuals, families, and communities across the state of Georgia.
In tandem, we have co-developed the Latino/a Mentoring Pipeline in partnership with colleagues at Georgia State’s College of Education & Human Development. This initiative allows for Hispanic/Latinx undergraduate and graduate students at Georgia State to intern at the CLD and work towards learning how to best serve Spanish-speaking communities in public health and educational spheres.
Spanish YMHFA Trainings
Youth Mental Health First Aid is a 4.5- to 5-hour training that:
-
introduces participants to the unique risk factors and warning signs of emotional, behavioral, and mental health concerns in adolescents
-
builds understanding of the importance of early intervention
-
teaches individuals how to help an adolescent experiencing a mental health challenge and how to connect them to mental health clinicians
-
teaches participants strategies for de-escalating a crisis situation
-
uses role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to assess and respond to a mental health challenge and crisis
-
teaches participants how to select interventions and provide initial help to youth and their families
Salud Mental - Primeros Auxilios
Los Primeros Auxilios para la Salud Mental de los Jóvenes están diseñados para enseñar a los padres, familiares, cuidadores, maestros, personal escolar, compañeros, vecinos, trabajadores de servicios humanos y de salud y otros ciudadanos solidarios cómo ayudar a un adolescente (de 12 a 18 años) que está experimentando una la salud mental o las adicciones son un desafío o están en crisis. Los Primeros Auxilios para la Salud Mental de los Jóvenes están diseñados principalmente para adultos que interactúan regularmente con jóvenes.
El curso presenta desafíos comunes de salud mental para los jóvenes, revisa el desarrollo típico de los adolescentes y enseña un plan de acción de 5 pasos sobre cómo ayudar a los jóvenes en situaciones de crisis y de no crisis. Los temas cubiertos incluyen ansiedad, depresión, uso de sustancias, trastornos en los que puede ocurrir psicosis, trastornos del comportamiento perturbador (incluido el TDA/H) y trastornos de la alimentación.
Primeros Auxilios para la Salud Mental Juvenil es un entrenamiento de 4.5 a 5 horas que:
- presenta a los participantes los factores de riesgo únicos y las señales de advertencia de problemas emocionales, conductuales y de salud mental en los adolescentes
- construye la comprensión de la importancia de la intervención temprana
- enseña a las personas cómo ayudar a un adolescente que experimenta un desafío de salud mental y cómo conectarlos con médicos de salud mental
- enseña a los participantes estrategias para reducir una situación de crisis
- utiliza juegos de roles y simulaciones para demostrar cómo evaluar y responder a un desafío y una crisis de salud mental
- enseña a los participantes cómo seleccionar intervenciones y brindar ayuda inicial a los jóvenes y sus familias
Trauma training
Watch the video.
Dissemination of LTSAE (Learn the Signs. Act Early) Spanish materials
Aprenda los signos. Reaccione pronto.
Desde el nacimiento hasta los 5 años, su hijo debería alcanzar indicadores en la manera en que juega, aprende, habla, actúa y se mueve. Hágale seguimiento a los indicadores del desarrollo de su hijo desde los 2 meses hasta los 5 años de edad; obtenga consejos para promover el desarrollo de su hijo; y averigüe lo que puede hacer si alguna vez le preocupa cómo va el desarrollo de su hijo.
Additional Information in Spanish - https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/Spanish/actearly/index.html
g
g
 |
Desde el nacimiento hasta los 5 años, su hijo debería alcanzar indicadores del desarrollo con relación a la forma en que juega, aprende, habla, actúa y se mueve. Haga un seguimiento del desarrollo de su hijo y reaccione pronto si hay algo que le preocupa.
|
What We Do
We are a diverse, multi-sector network of professionals, family advocates and allies across the state of Georgia that engage in capacity- and community-building and development at the intersection of intellectual and developmental disabilities and educational and health equity.
Moreover, we provide bilingual, and monolingual (Spanish), technical assistance and training to local, state-wide, regional, and national partners on how to best serve new comer and immigrant Spanish-speaking families in a wide-range area of expertise.
Here is a report of the LCPR’s 2016 Activities. This document details numbers, impact, influences, and goals.
Impact
Ana Soler, BSW, MPH - Seso, Inc. (Interpretation/Translation Services)
Mayira Bunting - YMCA of Greater Atlanta
Luisa Fernanda Cardona, Esq. - City of Atlanta/Office of Immigration Affairs/Welcoming Atlanta
Jennifer Zubler, MD - Good Samaritan Health Center/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Viviana Fernandez - Advisory Member, Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities / Bilingual National Content Manager for Cox Media
For more information contact Michelle Quintero at [email protected].
Contact Us
Address
Center for Leadership in Disability
Urban Life Building
140 Decatur Street SE
Suite 140
Atlanta, GA 30303