Grantees
and Partners

Art Start

Overview:

Art Start uses a youth-centered approach to education and mentorship. Programs guide young people to appreciate who they innately are, discover what they have to offer the world, encourage them to think critically, ask important questions, and identify the opportunities in their paths. Many of Art Start’s students are experiencing times of instability and transition, in systems that often stifle creativity. Art Start provides a safe space for artistic expression and exploration, with an emphasis on the creative process that encourages positive risk-taking and personal development.

Art Start programs serve approximately 600 youth annually and include:

• Creative arts workshops for youth living in transitional housing residences for families experiencing homelessness, pregnant and parenting young mothers, and at detention programs for court-involved youth.
• Personal and professional development opportunities for youth interested in pursuing a creative life. Services include residences, sponsored tuition to creative coursework, industry mentoring, portfolio creation, and stipends.
• Public-facing projects, including gallery/outdoor exhibitions, social media campaigns, and publications.

Grant:

Purpose: To support the Art Start Youth Mental Health Initiative, hiring the first Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

The Mental Health Initiative is designed to build capacity and increase Art Start’s ability to more fully address the spectrum of mental health needs of the youth they serve. The addition of a full-time Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) on staff has greatly enhanced Art Start’s onsite wrap-around services, including social-emotional and mental health support.

Impact :

The new social worker position provides direct services to Art Start youth through the development and implementation of individualized service plans for youth that involve goal setting, addressing acute needs, and offering free mental health support. The social worker also spearheaded the integration of new evaluation methods, including the adoption, implementation, and execution of the Casebook case management system and the Hello Insight youth development evaluation tool, and used Salesforce to track service plans, outcomes, social determinants of health, safety plans, demographics, and referrals to external resources. The case notes and tracking of individualized service plans showed that in numerous instances, housing, food security and physical safety needs were identified, so referrals were made to resolve the issue. With a licensed social worker on staff, those referrals extended to confirmed placements with follow-ups.

Art Start’s licensed social worker also dug deeper into staff development with two years of training in Transformational Relationships and Healing-Centered Engagement in order to not only consider trauma and the use of art and talk therapy but to also consider youth beyond their traumas with a focus fostering ongoing well-being towards a proactive, healthy and productive adulthood. In addition, staff members were trained in Motivational Interviewing techniques, which use reflective listening, affirmations, and open-ended questions to create an environment for students to practice autonomy, collaboration, and meet challenges, leading to their growth and a healthy navigation of change. The LCSW also provided a refresher of Mental Health First Aid training. Similar to physical First Aid and CPR, evidence-based Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training teaches the skills needed to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges, as well as how to provide someone with initial support until they are connected with appropriate professional help.

Of 60 teen and young adult participants enrolled in Creative Connections – which provides the young people with access to resources, courses, mentorship and relationships with industry professionals:

• 75% of the youth who completed at least one project demonstrated an increase in applied Social-Emotional Learning, which builds skills for collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking that create a foundation for students to pursue their career and life goals.
• 70% demonstrated an increase in an adaptive mindset, including goal orientation and growth orientation), key elements for career readiness.