Families gathered in the Meadowlands Family Success Center in Little Ferry on Monday, January 11 for the first Bergen County Council for Young Children (BCCYC) Parent Café of 2016. Participants and their children were welcomed with a warm meal and introduced to an abundance of community resources.

The BCCYC is a grant-funded program run by CarePlus Project Coordinator Jenn Loaiza and children and family health and wellness community partners. The Parent Café events held by the BCCYC provide a way for parents and caretakers to come together and begin to address their needs and concerns for raising children in various Bergen County communities.

During the event, the Project Coordinator asked three questions related to the needs and challenges of raising children in the community. Parents and caretakers participated in round table discussions, which also acted as an interactive problem solving experience of identifying the need and connecting resources for immediate satisfaction.

The feedback received during these events is used to improve the programs and services available in the community.

"One participant was a single mother who arrived that evening having very little support or community connection," explained Jennifer Loaiza. "By the time the event was over she was able to leave with all the information she needed to connect with three different supportive resources that she was eligible for. Those type of moments are really what this program is all about. It is incredibly rewarding to assist these families."

Participants are asked to form new groups for each question, and a representative from one of the BCCYC community partners is present to scribe each discussion. After all three questions have been answered, each of the scribes share what came up for each group. This allows for the participants to begin to connect over common needs, share successes, and learn about new resources.

(Left to Right) CarePlus Project Coordinator, Jennifer Loaiza with Meadowlands Family Success Center staff, Fabricio Salas, Keila Medina, and Mary Elizabeth Fulco.

Staff from the Meadowlands Family Success Center provided activities and childcare while adult participants engaged in conversation. The BCCYC also provides hot meals catered by Friendship House during these events. Families are encouraged to fill up containers with the remaining food before leaving, often enough to feed their children for another meal or two.

Representatives from CarePlus, The Arc of Bergen and Passaic Counties, the Bergen County Office for Children, the Family Support Organization of Bergen County, the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern NJ, and The Center for Hope and Safety were present to provide insight and create connections for participants.

"The variety of community partners is not always the same for each Parent Café," commented Loaiza. "However each representative that has taken part has added an invaluable asset with their understanding of needs in the community and their knowledge of available resources."

Other community partners that have been involved with the BCCYC include Bergen County Division of Mental Health, Bergen Family Center, Advocates for Children of NJ, CAPE Resource Center - Bergen County Special Services School District, YWCA Bergen County, Special Child Health Services - Early Intervention, Healthy Families - TIP Bergen, Children's Aid and Family Services - Turrell Child Care Center and Baby Basics, and Englewood Family Success Center - HIPPY.

There are three upcoming Parent Cafés scheduled: February 11th from 6-8 pm at the CarePlus Children and Family Services building in Fair Lawn; February 24th from 5-7 pm at the The Turrell Childcare and Early Learning Center in Paramus; and March 2nd from 6-8 pm at the Bergen Family Center in Englewood. The BCCYC is expecting to schedule four more Parent Cafés through June and will begin to form subcommittees to take participant involvement to the next level.

The group is actively seeking organizations interested in getting involved to expand the network of community partners and continue to create important connections for families. For more information on becoming a community partner, to participate, provide resources, or organize a future Parent Café, contact Jennifer Loaiza by phone at 201-265-8200 ext. 5286, or by email at JenniferLo@CarePlusNJ.org.

In 2015, CarePlus was selected for a competitive grant opportunity through the Cardinal Health Foundation to fund the CarePlus Client Cloud project, which in its early stages has already produced positive outcomes for participants. The organization is seeking to expand the reach of this project so that more individuals can benefit from the use of technology in behavioral healthcare.

The grant, which was awarded in March 2015, provided funding for the purchase, distribution, and utilization of tablets and Smart Boards for select individuals enrolled in CarePlus' Partial Care or Behavioral Health Home services. CarePlus then created the "Client Cloud", a simple webpage which allows participants to easily navigate to a number of resources, including their electronic health records, health tracking tools, educational materials, and general articles on mind and body wellness.

The vision for the Client Cloud project is for all individuals enrolled in intensive services at CarePlus to have access to technology tools and digital resources, allowing them to take a more active role in their health management. These resources also help the organization to attain important care management goals such as decreasing excessive and avoidable Emergency Room hospitalization and ambulatory costs, creating successful outcomes, as well as new levels of engagement and participation in wellness programs.

Project Coordinator, Jessica Costa, teaching how to use Google during the "Technology for Wellness" group.

In addition to the acquisition of tools, the project also includes an educational group - the "Technology for Wellness" group - that teaches the individuals how to use the devices. In a baseline assessment, it was determined that 67% of the group had never used a tablet, and that 22% had used technology to monitor health conditions. The follow-up evaluation showed that 100% of the group had used tablets to monitor their health conditions.

"We started from a place where many participants did not know how to turn on the tablet," explained Jessica Costa, Client Cloud Project Coordinator and Program Director for Partial Care Services at CarePlus. "By teaching participants to use the technology in an interactive group setting, we have created a strong foundation to build on."

"It's taken me a while to absorb because I'm not very technical," stated one participant who is enrolled in CarePlus Partial Care Services and attends the Technology for Wellness group. "It's a good challenge, and it's becoming easier as I learn and practice."

CarePlus has applied for more grant funding from the Cardinal Health Foundation to increase the number of participants from 30 to 75 in 2016. If received, the funding will be used to cover many one-time costs for the project, such as acquiring additional Smart Boards and tablets, expanding wireless connections, as well as promoting video conferencing with medical professionals and social support networks to decrease feelings and experiences of isolation.

"I want to learn how to Skype because I have friends that I speak with on the phone," continued the participant. "I would like to see them while we are talking."

A review of device search history revealed topics of interest including mental and physical health, nutrition and healthy eating, current events, and employment. The most frequent use appeared to be for entertainment, which follow-up interviews established were often searches for music. Participants noted that listening to music on the tablets provided motivation during physical activities, such as working out at the CarePlus on-site gym.

The CarePlus Foundation has also granted CarePlus the funding to invest in the myStrength application for the Client Cloud project. This digitally driven mobile application is designed to create an online learning environment that provides more behavioral health resources and the necessary tools for a lasting change. The program can be personalized for each participant so that every individual is able to focus on total well-being, addressing unique interests and challenges.

"In conjunction with the tools available through myStrength, we are confident that the Client Cloud project is equipped to engage participants and create sustainable outcomes," Costa affirmed. "We believe that this innovation is a huge step in the right direction for behavioral healthcare."

These tools give participants the opportunity to improve decision making and medication adherence, while increasing confidence, health literacy, and self-advocacy. Moving forward, CarePlus intends to implement more tools, enroll more participants, collect additional data, and continue to share the findings and outcomes of the project.