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CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES

James Baldwin among others has commented that "a people's most valuable asset is the well-being of their young." This idea serves as the guiding principle for CBPHP focus on children, youth and the strong supportive families that are indispensable to the welfare of the young. CBPHP activities – intervention programs and research - that serve as backbone, skills and experience to support children, youth and families include these:

  • Youth Leadership for a Drug-Free Community: funded through the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion (formerly the Detroit Health Department) was administered through Virginia Park Citizens Service Corporation. Unlike similar programs across the city of Detroit, this initiative included youth and young adults with disabilities. It incorporated program strategies such as individualized plans and MAPs as means to maintaining drug-free lie styles. Participants developed a video to communicate their concerns about the impacts of drugs on their neighborhoods and to implore their peers to live drug-free lives.
  • Partnership for Literacy Center: was housed at the Walker Williams Community Center in a room that contained 15 accessorized computers. The Center was funded by the Office of Lifelong Learning Research, a unit within the former College of Lifelong Learning, Wayne State University. The Center's aim was to cultivate positive learning relationships between youth, including individuals with disabilities and the elderly who frequent the Walker Williams Community Center. More than 20 youth were recruited and trained as Literacy Tutors with the support of adults in the community. Some of the youth in turn, assisted the adults in acquiring/improving their computer literacy skills. Center activities expanded to include academic tutorials, computer classes and GED exam preparation. There are plans to revive the Center.
  • Neighborhood Transition Summer Institute For Youth Leadership, Personal Skills Building and Job Readiness Training: a youth-centered, community focused and parent supported program that emerged in response to the need for youth to have control over the direction of their lives and that of their communities. The program brought together a range of youth, including individuals with disabilities, and linked them with their elders to engage in personal skill building through multiple activities in community settings.
  • Leadership circles for Inclusive Communities: emerged as a conscious attempt at inclusion, celebration of diversity and empowerment of marginalized individuals and groups to assume leadership roles in their communities. There are ongoing explorations to expand Inclusive Community Building and to crystalize the idea of Youth Leadership Circles in neighborhoods, within and outside Detroit.
  • Quality of Managed Health Care Through the Eyes and Voices of Minority Families: a study to assess perceptions and feelings of parents and guardians about quality health care for racial-ethnic minority children with special health care needs (CSHCN). The intent was to engage families of CSHCN in a study process to enhance their voice and inputs into emerging policies on managed health care services for children in Michigan and the nation as a whole. Program funding was from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the Center for Health Care Strategies. The locus of "control" for the study was intentionally shifted from Wayne State University (Department of Community Medicine) to parents and families to underscore the study's community-based orientation and CBPHP principles and approaches. In so doing, the study capitalized on CBPHP's demonstrated city-wide relationships for significant study process outcomes, identification of health care problems/issues related to CSHCN and their families. Study products (Interview Guide, Survey Instrument in Arabic, English and Hispanic), Reports and Monographs are available to inform and serve as tools to enhance contributions of marginalize groups in changes in the nations evolving health care and its challenges.

The research served as avenue to:

  • Strengthen CBPHP structure.
  • Establish COMMUNITY OF LEARNER on CSHCN issues which drew individuals from a range of community organizations, Family Support Groups, Health Care Providers and Public Agencies to engage in mutual learnings to improve quality care for CSHCN.
  • Opportunities to link Medicaid families of CSHCN with appropriate services for better and integrated health care services.
  • Demonstrated capacity of parents from poor families to participate and make tangible research contributions in roles with program advisory groups, focus groups, refinement of interview guides, training to conduct structured and unstructured interviews, data analysis and contributions to reports.