Rockland Community Continuum of Care Model

The City of Rockland will support the development of a cross-sector team of professionals to build the infrastructure for a community continuum of care model to address the youth mental health and risk crisis in Maine. They will conduct a pilot of this project in the mid-coast region of Maine, while building a team, resources, networks, and knowledge to scale this work across Maine. They will engage in community level research, asset mapping, advocacy, and collective impact work to determine the gaps in a continuum of care that supports the needs of at-risk and system-involved youth. Leveraging this planning grant, the team will develop the infrastructure to launch a community continuum of prevention through these five goals: Goal 1. Establish a team of cross-sector professionals to plan and implement requirements of the grant. The grantee will focus on convening a team of community, county, and state organization leaders to study the lived experiences of at-risk and system-involved youth, services in place, and barriers that exist currently in the continuum of care and development of youth in the community. Goal 2. Develop a strategic plan to implement a community-based local continuum of care model for youth in Knox and Lincoln Counties, leveraging Rockland as the pilot site due to the existing relationship with the city. The grantee will collaborate with faculty from the University of Maine to conduct a comprehensive case study of the initiative. Goal 3. Expand and update the asset maps for Knox and Lincoln Counties created by the Catherine Cutler Institute and Place Matters team at the University of Southern Maine, as well as strategically expand community engagement. They will work to determine the best approach to create a user-friendly searchable database of assets. Goal 4. Bring together statewide partners to inform statewide initiatives that will help create community-based continuums of care across Maine. Grantee partners will engage systems administrators, policymakers, advocacy organizations, and community leaders to advocate for youth needs statewide. Goal 5. Expand and develop the statewide Youth Network. This network will connect youth to the grantee, ensure youth voice is represented in the project plan, and expand opportunities for youth to get involved in systems change work statewide.